Take this Waltz

Take this Waltz is a film by Sarah Polley, who previously directed the film Away from Her in 2006. Polley, 33 years young, has written two mature films, both directed with an auteur eye. Take this Waltz stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen, as husband and wife, Margot and Lou. An actor I hadn’t heard of previously to this film, Luke Kirby, plays the love interest of Margot, Daniel. I am not a fan of infidelity movies and generally have no interest in watching the soft horror of them. From the onset of the film, it is clear the film’s focus will be between Margot and her love interest Daniel.

Recently, in the headlines CIA director David Petraeus resigned after having an affair with Paula Broadwell. What was more interesting to me was an op-ed piece written by Lisa Belkin for the Huffington Post on what the label is for a “male” mistress. Lover? Gigolo? Paramour? Mister-ess? In a bit of a role-reversal, Michelle Williams’ character is the one in the unhappy in the relationship and goes sauntering into an affair with Daniel. Seth Rogen plays the happy-go-lucky, chicken cookbook maker husband that is portrayed innocently in the film. He is attentive to Margot and is not portrayed as the villain in the film. By doing this, Polley doesn’t have her audience turn against Lou. Instead, the attention is turned onto Margot as being either the heroine, for seeking what will make her happy, or the “shameful woman she is,” as Ebert describes her in his review. I don’t believe the intent of the film is for the audience to judge Margot, but rather it is presented as an unapologetic portrayal of a modern relationship. The gender reversal of the infidelity is new and refreshing, I believe, for both man and woman that are tired of the same old Hollywood man cheats on wife theme. That is not to say that Hollywood hasn’t reversed these roles, Unfaithful in 2002 with Diane Lane comes to mind. That film had a distant, unrelatable, steamy novel feel to it. Margot, Lou and Daniel could be your neighbors.

By the end of the film I was expecting the role reversal infidelity formula to wrap up but was surprised to find it spin into the existentialist territories of Margot’s life. The direction of the film is unpredictable and strong. Most films are kitsch, but in Take this Waltz, you can strongly hear the voice of its director Sarah Polley. If you can suspend your judgment of Margot’s life or character, by the end of the film will you will have an honest dissection of life beautifully rendered in art.