Think of the quality of Woody Allen’s output and a word that comes to mind is definitely variable. Blue Jasmine though is a success, even described as brilliantly funny on the front of the DVD sleeve. Cate Blanchett stars as the eponymous Jasmine in Allen’s latest film, giving a well-pitched portrayal of a woman struggling to come to terms with a collapsing life. Admitting that she was playing outside her comfort zone, she deserves the plaudits and awards that have come her way. Her performance has also been nominated for an Oscar and even though she is up against Meryl Streep and Judi Dench it would be no surprise if she won.
However brilliantly funny is not the right description for a film that focuses on the disintegration of a woman’s life. There are humorous moments, but the emphasis is on Jasmine’s struggle to let go of the lifestyle that she has already lost at the start of the film. Flashbacks fill us in on the events that have led to her having to move to San Francisco and crash at the flat of her sister – played by Sally Hawkins who has been nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar.
Like many people she had chosen to live in a fantasy land, looking the other way when necessary whilst building a persona and a fake life. Self-obsessed and snobbish she has ignored her family, missed her sister’s wedding to a man she disliked and it is only when she is left alone and needs help that she comes to visit. Even in San Francisco she continues to live in an alprazolam-fuelled bubble of lies and self-deceit. Unable to see past her own needs she should be an horrific character to spend 94 mins approx with, but Blanchett humanises her and shows, though doesn’t excuse, the needs which drives her behaviour. We see the extent to which we are all capable of behaving like Jasmine. Self-delusion is not the reserve of the clearly insane. We all indulge to a greater or lesser extent.
Love of money and status are contrasted with family and personal disintegration. Jasmine’s tendency in illness to speak aloud to herself is an ideal way to get through lumps of exposition, the plot mainly functioning well, though it is true that an unlikely coincidence causes ructions. Blanchett’s performance is powerful as she gets more and more lost in a world she doesn’t understand.
Watching films on DVD means you get the exciting Special Features that are denied to the big screen audience. Sometimes these really are special, other times they, well, aren’t. Here we get Notes from the Red Carpet, a five minute doc where Blanchett compares Allen to Bergman and other actors praise his minimal style of direction. More interestingly there is a 25 minute Press Conference from the launch of the film in LA where Blanchett, Andre Dice Clay and Peter Sarsgaard talk in more depth about their approach to the project, working with Allen and the fact that Blanchett and Sally Hawkins were the only actors to get the whole script. Definitely worth watching if you are interested in the background of movie-making, although make sure you’ve already seen the film or you’ll come across a few spoilers.
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