Review of Blue Jasmine (2013) by Inka S — 04 May 2014

Frankly, I've never been a woman in love of Woody Allen's works, I always find them having no payoff and just a little bit pointless. This time, Blue Jasmine is his newest work, critically acclaimed as always, starring the ever beautiful Cate Blanchett (at least it doesn't star Woody Allen himself! And I'm only half joking!).

The eponymous protagonist is Jasmine, renamed herself from Jeanette, who comes to stay with her sister until she "gets back on her feet" again. It turns out that Jasmine lost all of her money because she married a crook and government took all of that she had. And with that, she lost all the jet-set lifestyle that she used to enjoy most happily.

This is, at the very heart, a story of a woman unraveling. Blanchett played the woman most beautifully, skirting the edge of lunacy, obnoxiousness, vanity, and absurdity. If you're wondering how such a character can be likable, well, she's not. But Blanchett is playing her (and I admit, with beautiful direction from Allen) with such grace (and comedic seriousness, if that's a thing) that it's hard to look away. It is like a trainwreck orchestrated by Monet. Some props have to made to Sally Hawkins as Jasmine's sister too. Her character is filled with equal amount of love and hatred towards Jasmine, and Hawkins played her with equal amount of ease.

Aside from acting, there are some genius writing going on in Blue Jasmine. I love how the fact that the sisters are adopted are treated as non-entity. I also love how as vain as Jasmine is, and as much as she refuses to "get down" fully into working class life, she is determined to study, make something of herself, and, as she put it, become interior designer. When the somewhat rich Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard) took interest in her, she took the opportunity to reinvent herself rather than seeing him as a quick route back into wealth (which other writers might resort into). Most interesting is Jasmine's cognitive dissonance. She maintains the appearance that--and even on a certain level firmly believes herself--that she doesn't know anything while she in fact knows everything.

I am partial with Jasmine's illness though. I have general interest in psychiatry as a field so I am somewhat sensitive with portrayal of mental illness in fiction and media. I would really like to see her (at least indicated) to have some kind of proper treatment because mental illness is no joke.

While some reviewers stated that Blue Jasmine is weirdly hilarious, I stay by my opinion that it is tragic and bleak as hell. Not just because each of the characters are a bit despicable, or because of the heavy theme, but mostly because of a lack of a real closure (you know, Woody Allen-style). Most stories have endings for a reason, and without them, the bitterness just sort of lingers on.

Ultimately, this is a Woody Allen film. Ultimately, this film is not my thing. But ultimately, the complexity in this film is admirable.