Video Interview: Derek Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine”)

Today’s video interview is 45-minute sit-down with Derek Cianfrance hosted by MovieCityNews. Cianfrance co-wrote and directed the new movie Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The movie has generated a lot of news primarily because of its battle with the MPAA to get its initial NC-17 rating reduced to an R. But from a writing standpoint, what interests me most is this: Apparently it’s a story without a middle. An excerpt from A.O. Scott’s review:

Mr. Cianfrance, who wrote the screenplay with Joey Curtis and Cami Delavigne, begins close to the bitter finale of Cindy and Dean’s relationship, skips back to the winsome beginning, and toggles back and forth between those points, leaving the middle to the audience’s imagination.

The narrative skips the 6-year middle of the relationship between the two lead characters. For more background, you can read this NYT feature on Cianfrance.

Here is the movie’s trailer: