The film follows the beginnings and end of the marriage of a young couple Cindy and Dean. The story of the deterioration of the relationship is livened up by cutting to the beginnings of the relationship. There was an enormous amount of improvisation involved in making this film with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, who play Cindy and Dean, moving in together pre filming and living on a small budget and staging arguments to figure out elements for the film. Interestingly the beginnings of the relationship were shot on super 16mm and the deterioration of the marriage was shot digitally. The improvisation does result in a high level of realism and shots are close and kept simple. As always Michelle Williams gives a believable and heart wrenching performance as Cindy and Ryan Gosling is surprisingly convincing and likeable as Dean. It is to the film’s credit that the audience cannot take a side and we can see the points of view of each character in equal measures.
However, Blue Valentine is rather twee in parts and feels like it is really trying to be that ‘indie’ film. I was mesmerised by the performances and this film really is all about the performances. It is a dream film for actors as it is all about them and Williams and Gosling do a tremendous job of committing to the characters and being on the screen throughout the whole of this film. There is not much more to say about it really, it is definitely worth watching but do not expect anything mind blowing or different. An interesting character film but not overly memorable.
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