Review of Blue Jasmine (2013) by Filipeneto — 23 Aug 2018

Woody Allen is a director who sometimes hits the target and sometimes shoots his own feet. However, he never fails to be interesting and innovative. Here, he will try to make his own vision about the famous movie "A Street Car Named Desire". The story is similar: Jasmine is a very wealthy housewife who has to say goodbye to all when her husband is arrested for tax fraud and the IRS takes almost everything that belonged to the couple to pay off debts and taxes. So, the former millionaire is forced to return to her poor family, who lives an ordinary life that she despises. To make matters worse, she is psychologically decompensated and had a nervous breakdown.

The film uses very well the charm and elegance of Cate Blanchett, who plays the protagonist role in an extraordinary way. Her interpretation is so good that is reason enough to watch. Beside her, a number of good supporting actors gives her even more room to shine. The highlight goes, of course, to Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay and Sally Hawkins, the latter in the role of Jasmine's sister. The film addresses, in essence, the relationships between these characters, and the way they both try to manage their lives. The ending is a bit sudden, perhaps even sad in that the main character is totally displaced, in the midst of a world that does not understand her and which her does not seem prepared to accept. Finally, a note of approval for the soundtrack, based on jazz and blues, full of elegance and that seems to point to the psyche of the title character.