Written and directed by Derek Cianfrance – who would later reunite with Gosling on The Place Beyond the Pines – Blue Valentine came out 15 years ago and chronicled the dissolution of a marriage in a non-linear style.
Future Barbie legend Gosling played Dean Pereira, while Michelle Williams was his wife Cindy, but one all-too-realistic sex scene between their characters caused the Motion Picture Association (MPA) to controversially step in.
Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling during their Blue Valentine days (Jim Spellman/WireImage)
In conversation with The Guardian, the actor described the movie as ‘anti-romance’ before detailing Cianfrance’s artistic vision.
“Director Derek Cianfrance wanted this movie to celebrate people’s faults, to demystify romance and to make something that felt real. I was excited by that,” Gosling said.
During one intimate moment on screen, Dean performs oral sex on Cindy, which turned out to be a little too authentic for some.
“The sex felt real – it wasn’t sexy or ‘a sex scene’, and that’s why we got into trouble,” added Gosling.
The scene in question proceeded to land Blue Valentine in a rating classification battle with the MPA.
“You shouldn’t be penalised for doing a good job,” said the star, who along with his co-star Williams was nominated for a Golden Globe Award that same year.
After a classification skirmish with the powers that be, Blue Valentine was ultimately downgraded to the R rating, which means any viewers under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
Cindy and Dean Pereira in Blue Valentine (The Weinstein Company/YouTube screenshot)
It also warns that the movie ‘contains some adult material’ with parents urged to ‘learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.’
From a modest budget of £788,000 ($1 million), Blue Valentine brought in just over £13m ($16.6m) at the global box office.
Williams, who went on to appear opposite Tom Hardy in the Venom franchise; Manchester by the Sea, and The Greatest Showman, also earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as Cindy.
This comes after Gosling revealed to The Wall Street Journal why he’s been side-stepping darker roles.
“I don’t really take roles that are going to put me in some kind of dark place,” he noted.
“This moment is what I feel like trying to read the room at home and feel like what is going to be best for all of us. The decisions I make, I make them with Eva [Mendes], and we make them with our family in mind first.”
