UNITED KINGDOM: Michelle Williams walks red carpet for UK premiere of Blue Valentine

Record ID: 219827

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Michelle Williams walks red carpet for UK premiere of Blue Valentine
  • Date: 19th October 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) GALA SCREENING VENUE BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL SIGN VARIOUS OF ACTRESS MICHELLE WILLIAMS SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS MICHELLE WILLIAMS, SAYING: "Yeah, so Derek set up this base for us, the house that we were shooting in. We walked in and he said, 'This is your house. Now make it a home', and so we were allowed to decorate it and hang pictures and paint walls. We went and got our pictures taken at like a family portrait centre. You know, stuff like that. So we really did. He just set us up with like tasks and chores and stuff. You know, like the real the little stuff, the little stuff that disintegrates a relationship and the little stuff that gets in the way of like why you initially loved the person to begin with? So, he had us go explore those things." BACK VIEW OF WILLIAMS, SHOWING HER LEOPARD PRINT HEELS AND RED RED DRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS MICHELLE WILLIAMS, SAYING: "You know, we also like had our wedding pictures taken when we did this, sort of younger segment, and Derek did this ceremony, where we put it in a wheelbarrow with a bunch of fireworks and we lit it on fire. And so, that's what we set out to do, like we created, like this great thing between us and then we set out to like burn it down. But the amazing thing is, is it didn't really burn. It burned into the shape of a heart with, like our faces still intact. So, we couldn't quite kill it, which is why I think they still get back together, but that's just me." VARIOUS OF CIANFRANCE SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) WRITER/DIRECTOR DEREK CIANFRANCE, SAYING: "When I was a kid, I had two nightmares: One was nuclear war, and the other was that my parents would get a divorce. When I was 20 they split up and I felt like the responsibility of the artist is to go into the thing, you know, confront the things that scares them, confront your fears. So, I decided I just had to start making a movie about relationships and one that would kind of treat them respectfully and honestly, and one that I could relate to." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) WRITER/DIRECTOR DEREK CIANFRANCE, SAYING: "We put in a lot of work between Ryan, Michelle and Faith (Wladyka, who plays the couple's daughter) to develop that sense of family. They had a house that they basically lived in for a month. They did Christmastime. They did birthdays. They made birthday cakes. Ryan took her fishing. You know this is stuff that's not in the movie, but this is stuff that basically develops and builds their memories together. I think those intangibles are what are evident on the screen."
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA9FU9N8Y9E4NCEMOBN6DCAD6ZU
  • Story Text: Academy Award nominee actress Michelle Williams attended the BFI London Film Festival gala screening of her new drama 'Blue Valentine' in London's Leicester Square on Friday (October 15), without co-star Ryan Gosling.
    U.S. writer/director Derek Cianfrance joined Williams on the red carpet.
    Williams who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Ang Lee's 'Brokeback Mountain' in 2006, plays mother-of-one Cindy, opposite Gosling as estranged husband Dean in an honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks.
    'Blue Valentine' is a story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage.
    Williams and Cianfrance talked about how they all worked together as a unit behind-the-scenes to prepare them for their role as a family on the big screen.
    "Yeah, so Derek set up this base for us, the house that we were shooting in. We walked in and he said, 'This is your house. Now make it a home', and so we were allowed to decorate it and hang pictures and paint walls. We went and got our pictures taken at like a family portrait centre. You know, stuff like that. So we really did. He just set us up with like tasks and chores and stuff. You know, like the real the little stuff, the little stuff that disintegrates a relationship and the little stuff that gets in the way of like why you initially loved the person to begin with? So, he had us go explore those things," Williams told Reuters Television.
    Williams also talked about how she prepared for the realistic fight scenes between her and Gosling.
    "You know, we also like had our wedding pictures taken when we did this, sort of younger segment, and Derek did this ceremony, where we put it in a wheelbarrow with a bunch of fireworks and we lit it on fire. And so, that's what we set out to do, like we created, like this great thing between us and then we set out to like burn it down. But the amazing thing is, is it didn't really burn. It burned into the shape of a heart with, like our faces still intact. So, we couldn't quite kill it, which is why I think they still get back together, but that's just me," she said.
    Cianfrance talked about facing his own personal demons as the motivation for making the film.
    "When I was a kid, I had two nightmares: One was nuclear war, and the other was that my parents would get a divorce. When I was 20 they split up and I felt like the responsibility of the artist is to go into the thing, you know, confront the things that scares them, confront your fears. So, I decided I just had to start making a movie about relationships and one that would kind of treat them respectfully and honestly, and one that I could relate to," he said.
    The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) handed the film an adult rating (an NC-17 rating) in the United States. The MPAA won't confirm why the film received the rating, but it includes a drunken sex scene in a hotel room. Cianfrance said they would be challenging the rating, saying it was unjust.
    "I was kind of shocked by the MPAA's rating because I think we tried to make a film that was very respectful and we tried to make a film that didn't exploit the characters. We disagree with it. We respect the MPAA and their work but we disagree with their decision and we're going to fight it. I believe the audience should see this film, this version of the film that's going to play in London tonight is the film that the rest of the people should see. I don't think people aren't up for it. I think it's an honest film. I don't think people need to be scared of intimacy or emotion. That's all it is. It's nothing else," said Cianfrance.
    'Blue Valentine' is the second narrative feature film from documentary filmmaker Cianfrance, and is co-written by Joey Curtis and Cami Delavigne.
    It took 30 days to shoot, and was filmed in Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York.
    'Blue Valentine' was one of the standout films at this year's Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals.
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