"Even when it becomes clear beyond all evasion that marriage with the Beloved cannot possibly lead to happiness-when it cannot even profess to offer any other life than that of tending to an incurable invalid, of hopeless poverty, of exile, or of disgrace-Eros never hesitates to say, 'Better this than parting. Better to be miserable with her than happy without her. Let our hearts break provided they break together.'"-C.S. Lewis, The Four LovesWhen I first watched the trailer for Blue Valentine, I got incredibly excited. I thought this looked like a beautiful movie that was going to be real. I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed.
This film is a beautiful look at a love falling apart. We begin at the end, when Dean and Cindy have been married for a while and are seeming to be sick of each other. Cindy works as a nurse while Dean is a painter, a job that he says is lucky because he gets to start drinking at eight in the morning. The two of them have a daughter, Frankie, that both of them seem very committed to.
They eventually get away for the night to a hotel room in an attempt to just get away from everything and reconnect. It is there that we begin to see how these two came to fall in love, have a child, and get married. As we watch their love story, we begin to wonder why all of this is seeming to fall apart, and yet it gives more context to how these two came together in the first place.
Throughout all of this is the brilliant camera work and direction of Derek Cianfrance. In addition, both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams give wonderful performances as our young lovers. It's a film I highly recommend for everyone to check out.
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