BLU-RAY RELEASE OF THE WEEK

(In actuality, this came out last week, but nonethless deserves to be mentioned.)


Blue Valentine invites the audience into the lives of Cindy and Dean, at two points during their horribly rocky relationship; it is at the same time breathtaking and unwatchable.  Dean is a nobody; a high school dropout who works for a New York City moving company. While on a job, he bumps into Cindy who is visiting her grandmother. They talk, they woo, they connect over song and dance numbers and funny crude pedophile jokes. Valentine takes place over two periods: when Dean and Cindy meet, and when their bond fall apart. The performances (career bests by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) are what make this film so powerful. They are raw and unrelenting; truthful and filled with pain and emotion.

Much of the dialogue was improvised (my favourite scene was when Gosling and Williams were on the Brooklyn Bridge: Cindy is pregnant, but unwilling to reveal the news to Dean. Director Derek Cianfrance instructed Gosling that Williams was keeping a secret from him and he had to do whatever it took to get her to spill the beans. He then took Williams aside with direction that she was keeping something private and was forbidden to reveal what it is, regardless of what Gosling did. The scene went on for hours, no one budged. Finally, desperate, Gosling started to climb the fence and straddled the top, half his body over the edge. Honestly frightened, Williams finally broke. Incredible.) The cover implies this is a love story--don't believe it. It is a great, great piece of art; I was transfixed to the screen. But I never want to see it again.