It hasn’t exactly been the easiest time for director Derek Cianfrance and his Ryan Gosling/Michelle Williams relationship drama Blue Valentine, as US ratings board the MPAA has just handed down a box-office-crippling NC-17 rating, causing a storm of complaint and controversy online, particularly as the film apparently features little to warrant such harsh treatment beyond one scene that is more emotionally violent than anything else. Still, in the midst of the bad news, the trailer has arrived.
Blue Valentine focuses on Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams), a couple who meet, fall in love and get married. But that’s not where the story ends – it’s where it begins. Or rather, where it begins to go wrong. See, while they’re initially blissful, the cracks start to appear and love slowly evolves into contempt and depression for both of them.
It generated healthy buzz at Sundance for its honest portrayal of love gone wrong and had started to be talked about as a possible Oscar contender. It remains to be seen what Cianfrance and producer Harvey Weinstein will do about the rating, though we’re guessing they’ll appeal at the very least.
The film arrives on December 31 in the US, and hopefully not long after that over here.