10 Films That Brilliantly Nailed Topical Issues
9. Blue Valentine
The recent success of Marriage Story starring Black Widow and Kylo Ren has had critics and fans rightfully crowing about the realistic depiction of the final passages of a failing marriage. While the film is nothing original, it is much better than the similarly themed but severely overrated Kramer vs. Kramer, which bizarrely beat off Apocalypse Now for a Best Picture Oscar back in 1979.
However, neither Marriage Story or Kramer vs. Kramer holds a candle to the brilliant 2010 film Blue Valentine. While this film may have been advertised as a romantic comedy, it is in fact the very opposite. Charting the awkward start of the relationship between young lovers Dean and Cindy while inter splicing this with the story of the relationship's demise, Blue Valentine is a bruising yet realistic insight into a marriage breakdown.
Both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are magnificent in portraying the married couple, as they try to overcome the everyday grind of life while raising Cindy's young daughter Frankie. Gosling and Williams make us believe in every drug or alcohol fuelled fight the couple have, while never making the viewer take sides either way.
Director Dian Cianfrance's refusal to cast judgment on either character while also exploring the flaws of both protagonists is what makes this film a real gem. The final scene, in which little Frankie chases after her step dad after he is booted out of the family home, is one of the most truly heart wrenching moments in film history.