Films of the Week: Blue Valentine and Another Year
This may be an odd pairing, and I’m not going to compare and contrast the films, but I think they can complement each other in some weird way; they each explore two very different couples.
Blue Valentine is a very effective film about love; it’s an up close and personal look at a relationship over about 5 years. The script is dynamic—the writer/ director Derek Cianfrance apparently worked on writing and developing the script for the past decade, and this work is evident in the amazingly honest dialogue and the unusual but effective structure. The film begins in the present, introducing the young married couple with their daughter, and their past is then intercut into the present scenes, the narrative of the past (the start of their relationship) progressing as their present marriage is disintegrating.
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are both brilliant, giving incredibly brave performances. They disappear into their characters (Dean and Cindy) and are so heartbreakingly raw and real that one forgets who they are as actors. I found myself more invested in and closer to Dean, however, and that may be because of how the character is written and developed, or it may be Gosling’s strong performance. Williams gives a quieter performance, not so attention-grabbing, but her character is simply less vocal; she never puts into words what her problem is with the relationship, and why she can’t do it anymore, whereas Dean expresses everything. How they met and fell in love is also very heavily documented, but what went wrong in the marriage is unspecified. That happens in relationships, though—it’s not always clear what went wrong. Sometimes people simply fall out of love, without any explanation.
This is probably the most brutally real film about a relationship that I’ve ever seen; the emotion is intense and it never lets up. It’s not always hard to watch, either—there are beautiful and fragile scenes of affection, and humorous moments as well. The camera stays tight and close, completely invested in these two people’s experience together, and the viewer can’t help but feel everything they do.
Another Year is Mike Leigh’s latest triumph in his continual study of how people live their day-to-day lives. His characters are so authentic, accessible, and well-developed that I feel as if I’ve known them forever. The storyline is structured by seasons—four seasons, four distinct sections, and the narrative cleverly revolves around meals. There are important meals in each section and the action and conflict between characters most often converges during these meals. All of Leigh’s films are character driven, so don’t expect this film to have an exciting plot. Nothing much happens in terms of action—that’s the point. It’s an illustration of how these people live their lives over the course of year, and how they interact and contrast.
The film centers on an older happy couple, Tom and Gerri (the pairing of names is a simple joke that is vocalized halfway through the film) played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. They have a lovely house in London, and a grown son. When they’re not working, they spend much time at their gardening lot, and have a settled life full of simple pleasures. They also have many very unhappy friends, particularly Mary, Gerri’s co-worker, played by Lesley Manville with an equal amount of frazzled energy and desperate melancholy. Mary is a piece of work; she is in constant need of attention and approval from others, she is in fact very childlike, and although she can be a bit much to handle, Tom and Gerri try to be supportive friends and invite her to dinners and get-togethers. Tom’s old friend, Ken (Peter Wight), is a similarly problematic friend—drunk and alone in life, he comes to stay a weekend and permeates the scene with miserable lamentations. When the couple has a barbecue, it’s clear that Ken has a thing for Mary, but she is ironically repulsed by him.
One begins to wonder what Tom and Gerri did to have such a great life—how did they get everything right when so many around them get everything wrong? It does have something to do with aging gracefully; the subject of age is very relevant in the film. They accept where they are in life, unlike Mary and Ken who continually look backwards to their youth, and have not come to terms with where they are now. But it’s also about simply accepting who you are as a person; Mary and Ken look to others for love because they have none for themselves. The last shot of the film is very poignant; it meditates silently on Mary’s lost face and speaks volumes—she is surrounded by loving people but she has begun to realize that she can’t rely on others to be happy; she must create happiness for herself, as they have done. Tom and Gerri are not extraordinary people, but they are warm and kind and at peace with life, and hold positive outlooks. They have also been lucky enough to find someone who matches their humorous and peaceful natures.
Another Year is a complex examination of people’s natures; their personalities, their choices and their attitudes on life. The film actually begins with a very sad character, played by Imelda Staunton, who says she simply wants a different life, rather than improving the one she has now. Leigh shows us this sadness that so many people live with, but then gives us hope by revealing other characters, just as real, who are happy with the lives they lead.
Astoria Cinema 