Review of Blue Jasmine (2013) by Udwari — 25 Aug 2013

I prefer to live on a wavelength unfrequented by the masses. So it makes sense that I'd enjoy most Woody Allen films; films that are strange in that very familiar way. His characters are portrayals of us or people we know magnified to the extreme degree. He's the master of balance, paying equal attention to the shocking and tedium bits that make life such an interesting (and often painful) adventure.

Blue Jasmine his most recent film plays with this idea of balance. A rather dramatic and shocking premise (Jasmine's husband kills himself while imprisoned for fraud) tempered by an exploration of what it's like to be painfully middle class (Jasmine is forced to redefine success, which prior to her husband's suicide meant multi-million dollar homes, the fanciest of clothes, and vacations in Saint-Tropez). It's also a too-close-for-comfort character study of Jasmine (played by Blanchett) we literally watch the fabric of her being unravel like a pathetically pretty doily.

Blue Jasmine is a deep sea dive into the frighteningly wild and unpredictable sea of Jasmine's emotions. Despite her beauty and timelessly elegant style, we learn that the only thing to have ever lived beneath her gorgeous facade was a manikin of wealth and power. When her husband's fraudulent money-making schemes are punished and Jasmine's left with nothing but her chanel accessories, she realizes how empty her life has become; and how, until now, she's never had to lift a finger to fill it.

Faced with this sudden challenge, we witness Jasmine's unraveling. She seems to sweat profusely in every scene (somehow beautiful despite massive pit stains and greasy hair). Her stoli-vodka martini trembles in her anxious hand, as she tries to make a life for herself while living with her adopted sister Ginger, working as a receptionist for a dentist, and going back to school to learn how to use a computer so she can start an interior design business of her own.

As the film continues to explore Jasmine's discomfort with the work required to be a self-sustaining adult and the lack of reward for doing so, I couldn't help but feel that this was a story about me; about the extraordinarily average life I lead. But through Jasmine's unraveling, I felt less and less wooed by the idea of "making it big" or having stuff. Regardless of the facade be it a chanel belt or vacations in Saint-Tropez we're all essentially the same up manikin trying our damnedest to hold our together behind the scenes.

Allen continues to make thought-provoking films with beautiful women in it. I loved this one, and Blanchett surely deserves an award for it.