Blue Valentine (Palace Films Collection) (Blu-ray) (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-Director and Co-Editor Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes Featurette-Q&A Cannes Film Festival Featurette-Home Movies Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	112:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Derek Cianfrance
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Ryan Gosling Michelle Williams Faith Wladyka John Doman Mike Vogel Marshall Johnson Jen Jones Maryann Plunkett
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$39.95	Music	Grizzly Bear

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Linear PCM 48/24 5.1 (4608Kb/s) English Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 (1536Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo bills itself as "the feel bad movie of Christmas". Choosing the feel bad movie of last Christmas (or indeed last year) would have been a far more difficult task as there were a number of films that would have vied for that award - dead children in Rabbithole, missing fathers in Winter's Bone, loss of sanity in Black Swan, and this present slice of melancholia. Blue Valentine, the story of a relationship falling apart, is a sad and depressing work which leaves the viewer emotionally exhausted by the conclusion. Blue Valentine was directed by documentary filmmaker Derek Cianfrance who says, in the extras material included with this Blu-ray, that he has been working on the project for 12 years producing over 60 drafts of the script. Leads Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were also attached to the project for a number of years and had difficulty, for various reasons, getting their schedules together to film it. On the back of a DVD case film critic David Stratton describes the film as "a showcase for two remarkable actors". That is a fairly polite way of saying that the film itself might not have risen above standard indie fare but for the remarkable performances of Gosling and Williams. Otherwise the intense bickering and relentlessly downbeat story may have proved too tough to watch for most audiences. As it is drama lovers should be aware that this is a spare indie production with numerous uncomfortable scenes, characters who are often unlikeable and little or no actual plot.

     Blue Valentine is the story of a relationship not so much in decline but over the precipice. As we meet Dean and Cindy they are the parents of a young daughter living in suburbia. Dean is a painter by occupation. It is a job that he does not take terribly seriously as he downs a beer in the morning before going off to work. Cindy is a nurse at a local medical centre. The film starts in crisis. The family dog has gone missing. Dean accuses Cindy of leaving the gate open. It is a small thing which shows the level to which the relationship has deteriorated. They put their daughter with her grandfather in order to take some time to bury the poor dog, which has been hit by car. Dean can't stand being in the house and drags Cindy off to a seedy love motel in order to rekindle their relationship. He can see the marriage spinning out of control. Cindy is unwilling to go but Dean is insistent, single-minded.

     Director Cianfrance contrasts this 36 hour real time story of relationship failure with the earlier beginnings of the relationship between the couple. We see the young pair meet and fall in love, forging a life together. Often the contrasts are highly ironic and devastating. This is not the first time that a filmmaker has used structural devices to such effect. Cianfrance says that he was influenced by The Godfather II in the blending of the stories, however another comparison may be had with Harold Pinter's The Betrayal in which the story is told backwards from the failure of the relationship back to the joyous first meeting of the couple. The effect is to colour all the happy moments with sadness but also to raise questions as to whether the marriage was ever going to work.

     Blue Valentine has a definite indie look and feel. Although the script may have undergone a multitude of drafts, Cianfrance told the actors to improvise and the result is a film that hardly feels scripted at all. The exchanges between the characters, their arguing and non-communication, are frighteningly accurate. Gosling is a remarkably intense actor who brings an incredible level of detail and honesty in his characters. He plays Dean as a passionate and wilful man and something of a loose cannon. In a key flashback he relates to his prospective in-laws that he hasn't seen his mother since he was 10 years old. Psychologists could probably analyse the levels of behavioural traits arising from her absence. The most marked in this film is the need for him to have both a wife and a mother in the same package. He is relentlessly childish, refusing to understand his wife's point of view. It is a brave performance to create a character who is on the border of being a hateable.

     Michelle Williams earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Blue Valentine. It is a well nuanced performance. Dean is the volcanic centre of the relationship and Cindy the meek and mild heart. At first blush she is the angel of the pair, putting up with Dean's childishness and irresponsibility. It takes two to tango, however, and as the film progresses it becomes clear that she has passively shut him out. When he storms into the medical centre looking for her he remarks that this is the place that she smiles. Is this because it is her escape from unhappiness or because she has given up on Dean? The leads spent time living in the same house for a month after the first scenes - the early, happy part of the relationship - were shot. The production then went on a hiatus whilst Williams rapidly put on weight for the break-up era scenes. Gosling opts for a receding hairline as his sign of ageing. The effect in both actors is startling.

Video

     Blue Valentine was shot using two different cinematographic processes. The early scenes were shot using 16mm film to give it that slightly rough look. The later scenes were shot using the digital Red One camera. Both were projected at the odd European Widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Unfortunately,that ratio has not been preserved for the Region B Blu-ray release. It is not clear why the decision was made to crop and blow-up the image, particularly when the ratios (1.66:1 to the actual 1.78:1) are so close in size. Any tampering with aspect ratio, according to site policy, gives the film 1 star off for overall video mark. Whether it makes real practical difference is not a choice we in Region B Australia are able to make.

 The image quality itself is reflective of the film at the cinema. Although the Red One should give a sharper image quality it is not a matter of chalk and cheese. The 16mm footage does exhibit graininess however the 1080P image is fairly crisp and the level of detail is impressive. The Digital footage is frequently shot in darkened rooms or under overcast skies. The colours are bright and strong, although the colour palette, by design, tends to the dull.

     There are descriptive subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which give a good account of on screen action.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

     Blue Valentine comes with two soundtracks both LPCM stereo English tracks. One is a 5.1 surround track running at 4608 Kb/S and the other is a 2.0 track running at 1536Kb/S. In fact, both are adequate to convey the sonic palette for this film. The movie mainly consists of dialogue and the dramatic use of surround effects is practically non-existent. However, there is a subtle ambience to the track which is gently enveloping including the wind, traffic noise and general hubbub.

     The dialogue is generally clear and easy to understand. However, both Williams and Gosling are modern method actors which translates to the occasional indecipherable line. That is not any fault of the transfer. The film sounded exactly like this at the cinema.

     Music for the film is provided by Brooklyn natives Grizzly Bear, with song songs taken from their Veckatimest record, which lend the film a wistful but downbeat atmosphere. The song Blue Valentines by Tom Waits is nowhere to be heard!

     The story behind the tagline to the film "nobody baby but you and me" is worthy of a mention. Listening through a friend’s obscure CD collection one night Ryan Gosling heard a track recovered from archives of a bankrupt studio. The song, Me and You, attributed to Penny and the Quarters was a "lost" recording from the 70s. Gosling was convinced that it was the song for Dean and Cindy and director Cianfrance agreed. As a result of the popularity of the film the original Penny was tracked down, oblivious to the spotlight shone on her early and unsuccessful recording.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Commentary Track Director and Co-Editor

     Given that the film was 12 years in the making it is perhaps no surprise that director Derek Cianfrance and co-editor Jim Helton have much to discuss in the commentary track. Although Helton takes the opportunity, when it arises, to discuss some of the editing problems with the film, the bulk of the track is taken up with Cianfrance talking about the origin of the project and the difficult process in bringing it to the screen.

     There are also some amazing stories to be had about the filming process. With a couple of dead set method actors on board it is no surprise that they embraced his immediate approach to filmmaking. Therefore, when we see actors being woken up in the morning he had arranged for them to sleep there the previous night to be woken up on camera. Similarly, in the closest thing that this film has to a "meet cute", the couples' song and dance routine, the director purposely had the actors keep their secret skills from each other until they reached a certain point on location at which time they improvise their special moment. Also under discussion were the films often frank sex scenes.

Q&A Session (41.37)

     This is a lengthy Q&A from the Cannes film Festival. It is moderated by Steve Zeitchek from the LA Times. Not only do Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams feature heavily as well as the director, but the producers of the film Jamie Patricof, Lynnette Howell and Alex Orlovsky also get a word in. If you have listened to the commentary track then there is not a great deal that is new arising out of this feature. The producers and the director talk about the long road to get the film made and the actors share in their pain as the production timetable stretched out over years. Worth a look.

Deleted Scenes (19:45)

     The deleted scenes included with this Blu-ray are sizeable. The four scenes (Relationship Talk in the Van, Makeup in the Rain, The Park, and That Face) don't come with any commentary so it is difficult to know why director Cianfrance left them out of the finished film. My suspicion is that time was the factor. The scenes are seemingly improvisatory in nature.

The Making of Blue Valentine (13:50)

     Again, a lot of this material also appears in the Q&A and the Commentary track but if you don't have time for either this is not a bad place to get an insight into the working process behind the movie. The director describes the method of working with the actors and the actors talk about the joy of finding their characters.

Home Movies (6:02)

     As part of the "becoming a family" process the pair shot some home movie footage including Frankie and the Unicorn with the young actress playing their daughter. An oddity.

Theatrical Trailer (1.50)

     Set to Gosling singing You Always Hurt the One You Love, this trailer perhaps conveys a rosier picture of the film than viewers are likely to see.

    This is described as an All Region Blu-ray. Yet it contains one feature, the Q&A, which is not present on the Region A release. Further, as detailed above the aspect ratio has been altered, albeit slightly from 1.66:1 to 1.78:1. Your choice.

     Blue Valentine is so depressing in its depiction of a marriage that's sinking into the swamp that it deserves to be called an anti-romance. It belongs alongside films like Leaving Las Vegas which are essential viewing though watching them more than once is unlikely to be on the agenda. Nevertheless, the performances of Williams and Gosling are stunning and immersive and a master class in modern performance. Even those who struggle with the downbeat nature of the film will appreciate the quality of the acting on show.

     The Blu-ray accurately conveys the quality of the film. That is, a film that was shot in an almost documentary like fashion. The extras are interesting and comprehensive.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
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