blue valentine: thinkin' 'bout love in the 21st century

as opposed to my earlier post, DEREK CIANFRANCE's BLUE VALENTINE is a fine example of minimalist storytelling. we aren't presented with overwrought structure or unnecessary supporting characters, but simply the future, the past, the actors, and the camera. it leaves one trying to understand love and marriage through looking at the good, the bad, the kindling, and the ending.

in a day when the pre-marriage counseling is hardly taken seriously and love's feeling is more important than sacrifice and commitment, this is the tale of many love stories (though, yes, this is much more indie). here, love is not a spiritual thing.

CIANFRANCE seems to compare love's feeling to love's commitment and the selfless dedication that a marriage asks of both its members. he doesn't point out the important moments to us, though in the film's wake, we are left to study the characters and see what moments explain the disillusionment at hand. cindy (played by a terrific michelle williams) lives for feeling. dean (a well-studied ryan gosling) found his life's one true mate. her fairytale fades, his continues. what happens when a couple first loses that feeling of love? and what if one also loses the desire to keep the flame flickering?

the performances are top-notch, the filmmaking great. one complaint: too many close-up shots in the film's first hour make the audience feel unpoetically / inappropriately claustrophobic. not a good date movie, but a great one to see. oscar bait? i'm not sure, but this one sure lives up to its title.

the king's speech: epic friendship

the script's good, the direction fine, and the casting superb (colin firth is perfect), but it really is the story here that exercises your heart, which for some reason has caught me off guard in an amazing way. the events and characters are factual. a group of intrigued story tellers have assembled a skilled team to tell this story of rare friendship amidst admittedly bizarre social conditions, one strange enough for a cinematic double-take and important enough for the whole world to see and hear. THE KING'S SPEECH doesn't call too much attention to how it's telling itself, but instead lets it play out with a strangely-arched string of wonderful moments, and with history and tradition as its support.

the only glaring missteps here are in cinematography, in which someone thought it a good idea to make overly artsy choices that read as visual stoopidity to this reviewer. and to tell the truth, i could have gone for an even harder emotional tug (i like to try to resist as hard as possible to retain my emotional manliness in the movie theatre) in the final moments of the film, but i assume that's just my taste.

after leaving my seat after the end credits, the idea that a humble friendship can influence the history of a nation and culture rings true. although not royalty, our friendships can be epic--are epic--with appropriate vulnerability, humor, and love. go see it.