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Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams deliver heart-wrenching performances in Blue Valentine, a gritty relationship drama about a crumbling marriage.

Capturing a cinematic realism akin to that of the great John Cassavetes, filmmaker Derek Cianfrance weaves the story of the couple’s impetuous start with its cramped and cheerless present-day reality. Cianfrance shot sequentially and refrained from rehearsing the actors to maximize the element of discovery for the love-found scenes. For the later sequences, which were shot after a month-long hiatus, the filmmaker had Gosling and Williams co-habitating full-time in claustrophobic living quarters.

Reactions to the film have already proven to be as complex as the relationship itself, but agreement can be made that it is easily one of the most honest-feeling dramas to hit screens in a long time.

Visit the film’s official website, watch Ryan Gosling on Charlie Rose, check out Michelle Williams’ three-part interview with Anne Thompson, become a fan of the movie on Facebook, and pre-order the soundtrack, scored by Grizzly Bear.

Click through below for a gallery of images and clips from the film.