tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post8043743444119341524..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Blue ValentineDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-45214623516380157552011-07-08T15:32:50.292-04:002011-07-08T15:32:50.292-04:00No, but it's on my list too (number 5, to be p...No, but it's on my list too (number 5, to be precise). <br /><br />I've just sent <i>Blue Valentine</i> back to Netflix, so I've missed the extras for now. I'll have to get hold of it again and have a look. <br /><br />I've upgraded my opinion of the movie since, or while, writing about it this morning. I still think it's not great in the sense of being an all-time classic, but it is very good. Partly because it's so memorable and hard to dismiss with a label. I agree that it does seem to be about one relationship, so you can't criticize it for generalizing pessimistically. In fact, it doesn't explicitly rule out some future reconciliation between Dean and Cindy, although that seems unlikely. It's a sadly believable story.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-91580186859208238332011-07-08T12:23:29.861-04:002011-07-08T12:23:29.861-04:00Yeah, I haven't quite figured it out either, b...Yeah, I haven't quite figured it out either, but it is particularly memorable, as you mention. I'm inclined to think that it's primarily about <i>this</i> relationship, and perhaps that it just wasn't going to work out (maybe this is contingent on esp. Cindy not wanting to see herself as her mother in another 20 years...). It's sad, because their courtship is so endearing. There's also something striking about Dean's remarks about discovering that all he really wanted is to be a dad, etc. And while neither character is perfect, it also seems right that neither is particularly blameworthy (if that's the right word)--him for lacking a certain kind of ambition, or her for wanting (presumably) to start over elsewhere (maybe I'm reading her underlying motives wrong here).<br /><br />(There's an interview with the writer on the dvd extras, in which he discusses the time it took to write and make the film. I think it's more worth watching than similar things on other dvds.)<br /><br />Up next for me: I have Mike Leigh's new film "Another Year" on my list, and it's about (so I've read) an older couple for whom it <i>has</i> worked out. Seen it?Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.com