“Consistently a film I go back to”: The movie Paul Mescal uses to punish himself
We all have those films we can reliably revisit for emotional devastation. If you’re looking to wallow in heartache with Charlie Kaufman, maybe Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is your pick. Perhaps The Notebook is your guilty pleasure go-to for cathartic cinema. Or maybe you just can’t stop revisiting the family turmoil of Little Miss Sunshine. For Paul Mescal, that film is Blue Valentine.
Released in 2010, Blue Valentine is a devastating picture of a failing relationship, flitting between a young couple in the early throes of love and the messiness of their ensuing marriage. Between Ryan Gosling’s ukulele strums and Michelle Williams’ shop-side tap-dancing, it tells one of the most honest and heartbreaking love stories in modern cinema.
The film won immediate recognition from critics, even earning Williams an Academy Award nomination for her performance. Over a decade later, it remains a favourite in the genre, still revered for its realism, the power of the lead performances, and a gorgeous soundtrack from indie staple Grizzly Bear.
Among the film’s many fans is Irish actor Mescal, whose enthusiasm for the film makes sense when you take a look at his own filmography. Finding his breakthrough in the series adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, Mescal is no stranger to imperfect but lifelike characters and on-screen relationships.
Starring as Conell opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Marianne, Normal People told a story of romantic near-misses and miscommunications, a tale that’s just as devastating and true to life as Blue Valentine. Since then, Mescal has continued to demonstrate a penchant for on-screen emotional devastation with roles in the heartbreaking Aftersun and All of Us Strangers.
It makes sense, then, that he favours similarly gut-wrenching cinema in his personal watching habits. In fact, Blue Valentine might have even inspired the more naturalistic approach he has taken to his craft. While picking out four of his favourite films during a conversation with Letterboxd, Cianfrance’s romance was his first choice, as he deemed it “consistently a film that I go back to punish my feelings with.”
It’s an impressive film to revisit so often, as it almost guarantees tears and turmoil with each rewatch. It certainly fits the brief of emotional self-punishment, evoking a whole range of feelings throughout its runtime, from loneliness to longing.
While Blue Valentine may be his go-to film for those feelings, his own work has provided so many others with the same. From Aftersun to Normal People, his filmography is rife with performances that never waver on their ability to emotionally devastate with each rewatch.
Watch the trailer for Blue Valentine below.
