Take This Waltz (2011)

A happily married woman falls for the artist who lives across the street.

Director:

Sarah Polley

Writer:

Sarah Polley

Stars:

Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman

3 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Williams	...	Margot
Seth Rogen	...	Lou
Luke Kirby	...	Daniel
Sarah Silverman	...	Geraldine
Jennifer Podemski	...	Karen
Diane D'Aquila	...	Harriet
Vanessa Carter	...	Tony (as Vanessa Coelho)
Graham Abbey	...	James
Damien Atkins	...	Aquafit Instructor
Aaron Abrams	...	Aaron
Dyan Bell	...	Dyan
Albert Howell	...	Albert
Danielle Miller	...	Danielle
Matt Baram	...	Matt
Avi Phillips	...	Avi

Storyline

While on a plane ride back to Toronto from a writing assignment, Margot meets Daniel, a handsome stranger. An immediate attraction is formed and Margot is able to open up and discuss some of her fears and longings. A taxi ride back home causes Daniel and Margot to realize that they are neighbours and Margot admits she's married. The summer-time heat and her increasing fascination with the handsome artist who lives across the street starts getting to her, and Margot is no longer sure if she's happy in her marriage or if she'd be happier with her fantasies with Daniel.

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Plot Keywords:

actress breaking typecast | husband wife relationship | love triangle | infidelity | artist | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some strong sexual content and graphic nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada Spain Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 2012 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Bu Dans Senin

Filming Locations:

The Royal Cinema, College Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$137,019, 1 July 2012

Gross USA:

$1,239,692

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,965,950

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joe's Daughter, Astral Media, The Harold Greenberg Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 91 min (censored)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital EX (US version) Dolby Stereo (DVD version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer and Director Sarah Polley chose to use the song Video Killed the Radio Star in key scenes, because it was her brother's favorite song.

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Goofs

Margot makes a date for 2 PM Eastern Standard Time in August, when it must be Eastern Daylight Time.

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Quotes

Margot: A dog is like a starter for a kid.
Lou: No, a dog is like a starter for a cow... or a bigger animal.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Most Underrated Romance Movies (2019)

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Soundtracks

Take This Waltz
Written by Leonard Cohen and Federico García Lorca (as Federico Garcia-Lorca)
Performed by Leonard Cohen
Publishing Courtesy of Stranger Music (BMI)
Administered by SONY/ATV Publishing Canada (SOCAN) All Rights Reserved
Used by Permission of EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)
Master Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.

User Reviews

You might not agree with what it has to say, but Polley has made a bold and impressive film

Common terms associated with movies about infidelity would be "lust," "passion" and "betrayal," yet all those things are suspiciously absent from Sarah Polley's infidelity drama, "Take This Waltz." Her film is about as anti-soap opera as you can get — careful to avoid melodrama and dedicated to sidestepping any and all conventional depictions of adult relationships in film.

It seems odd to call Polley bold for showing it like it is, the way that she drags us through the head of her main character, Margot (Michelle Williams), who so undeniably loves her husband, Lou (Seth Rogen), yet cannot deny her feelings for Daniel (Luke Kirby), a man she meets while away for work who turns out to be her neighbor. However, when it comes to filmmaking, anything that deviates from Hollywood reality can make an audience uncomfortable, so it takes some guts to ignore that filmmaking impulse.

Consequently, a good chunk of viewers will be turned off or frustrated by "Take This Waltz," losing patience with the inaction of its characters and pulling their hair out over the tension oozing out of the most casual character interactions. Yes, "Take This Waltz" can be so uneventful that it verges on pointless, but in time Polley's intentions become very clear.

As Margot and Daniel get closer, they don't really get closer, and as Margot and Lou drift apart, they actually come off as in love as they've ever been. For much of the film, it's in Margot's head that the cheating is actually happening. Her thoughts and actions are not in sync and it becomes extremely difficult for us to find empathy for her because we feel as though she needs to act on her feelings, to either voice her displeasure to Lou or throw herself at Daniel. That's the Hollywood impulse calling.

Polley continues to resist, and as challenging as it becomes to watch at times, her film comes out better for sticking to its convictions. As she clearly intended, a switch flips in a scene in which Margot and Daniel ride an indoor Scrambler as "Video Killed the Radio Star" plays, an in the loopy chaos of the scene, we (and Margot) find a certain clarity in understanding what's going on between the main characters.

There's a definite phantasmagoria to Polley's style as well that while visually engaging contrasts a bit with what's otherwise such a nuanced, completely believable film. Several scenes play out like dream sequences, but we later can confirm they actually happened. She seems quite content to toy with our expectations and challenge what we think we know to be true about how love works.

You couldn't cast a better actress than Williams with a performance that's so hard to pull off. We only identify with Margot because we see her humanity, but it's tough to understand her and in some cases even like as a third-party observer of her story. Williams should be lauded for volunteering for this experiment and selling it as well as she does, especially when you consider that Kirby is a total unknown and Rogen is a poster child for modern comedy, for formulaic comedies that are such a far cry from "Take This Waltz."

The end of the movie is bound to bother a lot of people, while others will be intrigued at the choice and make peace with what Polley has to say because she frankly makes a good argument. Fidelity gets such a black-and-white portrayal in film and television, though maybe that's a societal thing because of its prominence in religious code. Nevertheless, she utilizes every tool at her disposal to present the gray area that we so quickly jump to deny and shudder to embrace.

It's tough to really enjoy a film that doesn't emotionally click, in which we don't feel with our hearts that things should've turned out how they did, but Polley has such a beautiful directorial style and conveys her intentions so clearly that "Take This Waltz" warrants a certain degree of respect for its bold yet so honest and impressively perceptive take on love.

~Steven C

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