The Graham Norton Show may have given us the best Gosling moments to cherish for a lifetime; yet, we look back at four blockbuster hits before his ‘Ken-ergy’ found its way to our heart.
Blue Valentine by Derek Cianfrance
Gosling’s first Golden Globe nomination, Blue Valentine is emotionally raw and charging—a hurricane, which sweeps you off-balance as it navigates how domesticity could lead to the eventual degeneration of a great love story. Gosling’s performance, as a working-class character, is a beautiful comingling of detail and spontaneity which adds to the depth and range. The film is certainly a death blow to the Disney romance we have watched through rose-tinted glasses. A roller-coaster ride if you are in the mood.
La La Land by Damien Chazelle
La La Land is perhaps emblematic of Hollywood’s everlasting love affair with its own undying glory—a story writ in water. Besides bagging seven Golden Globes, the musical gives us an Emma Stone and Ryan Goslin revival of the golden age. La La Land is a fantasy. A dream. Gosling’s yet another superb performance – a performance no less true than the beauty of Jazz itself. If you are eager to lose yourself in a complex love affair whose beauty is accentuated by music and aesthetics, La La Land should be an all-time favourite.
Blade Runner 2049 by Denis Villeneuve
Rightfully hailed as a future classic, Blade Runner 2049 is a masterpiece of a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 and successfully encapsulates philosophical profundity and stunning visual aesthetics. In this dystopian swampland, Gosling’s K sparkles. His romantic rendezvous might remind you of Spike Jonze’s Her, this cyberpunk art nails creating a character so unique as K – one who is a bio-engineered male with physical and mental capabilities that surpass normal human beings.
The Ides of March by George Clooney
George Clooney’s thriller is a compelling take on Redford’s 1972’s cinema on democratic politics—The Candidate. While the title is a scheming interweaving of Plutarch and Shakespeare, Gosling’s Stephen Mayer leads a cerebral brilliance and grand cinematic value to the film. This political staffer with a hint of idealism and unbending determination. Gosling’s character is one which goes through a slow disintegration owing to the flawed political system with its candidates navigating through the streets of Cincinnati swamped with melting now and promising political rhetoric. The film with its mix of chicanery and cunning makes for a great watch.
