A glance around the globe (or a peek at the Internet) will show you money, status, power and vanity still spin the world out of control. The same ancient tragedies and comedies bog down the human spirit denying it its necessary revelations until it is much, much too late. Man still accumulates wealth and power by compromising his ethics. The United States gave a thumbs up to this notion ages ago while engineering the rocket to oblivion we now ride on. Woody Allen often comments on this phenomenon (since 1972 or so) via his favorite method of creative expression- the fairer sex. His new film, Blue Jasmine, shakes its head at the bankers and crooks that have ravaged this landscape in spite of its saner, milder, less reptilian inhabitants (the oft cited "99 %"). Allen has referred to himself as a “Middle Class Worker” (albeit a very privileged and famous one) in interviews and frequently shows contempt for the elite classes in his films (not unusual for a cinema clown/comedian- thumbing your nose at authority and fascism). Allen's Jasmine concentrates on an achingly fragile female and how corrupt, unreliable masculine energy strains her to her very soul. It unnerves her to her core and literally compromises her sanity.
At this point in cinema history seeing a new Woody Allen film is simply sitting down and having the same insightful, reliable discussion with an old friend. Although many have branded Allen the curmudgeon trudging over the same tired ground and themes year after year- I would argue differently. I still see a comedian and dramatist hard at work )a known disciplinarian; Allen delivers films under budget and on time) offering variations on the same themes and obsessions. With Blue Jasmine he's fashioned another complex nod to Tennessee Williams, August Strindberg and his beloved Ingmar Bergman (Blanchett is essentially the logical cinematic evolution of Liv Ullmann).
Jasmine (Blanchett) is drawn to powerful, worldly men. It is her passion and her natural instinct. She moves in with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), in order to find her footing after a nasty marriage with a power hungry elitist, Hal (a typically fantastic Alec Baldwin). Jasmine is vulnerable and delicate (Blanche Dubois with an Iphone), deceitful (deceiving mostly herself), nervous (typical Allen heroine), somewhat eroticized (a desperation) and thus- instantly attractive to the opposite sex (especially men written by Woody Allen). The trauma of her failed marriage to Hal lands Jasmine at her sister's San Francisco apartment. Jasmine pivots from a wealthy and glamorous life to a middle class and functional one. She handles this transition with the anxiety and disbelief of a puffed up peacock suddenly flung into a hog pen. She trembles in and out of scenes (flirting with a 2nd nervous breakdown) while drinking and pill’ing her way through her sister’s mainstream world.
Allen has a history of relying on capable actresses to convey his substantial existential dilemmas. From Diane Keaton (Love and Death (1975), Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979)) to Mia Farrow (Zelig (1983), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Husbands and Wives (1992)) to Scarlett Johannson (Match Point (2005), Scoop (2006), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008))- Allen's screenplays rest on the psyches of striking, brisk, elusive female forms. In Blanchett- he has located a different kind of bravery. One of the most exceptional performances I’ve seen in an Allen film- Blanchett’s Jasmine is a cascade of disruptive monologues and questionable accusations. She forces people to react to her so she knows she is present. She snaps like a twig at any harsh noise or remark, turns to stone with her next uncontrolled thought, and displays her neuroses like a third eye in the middle of her forehead. Jasmine is a strong and capable woman one minute- only to disintegrate seconds later into misery at the mere suggestion of anything challenging her self-delusion. She is a woman who wants a man of extreme wealth and societal prominence. And her growing knowledge that the last half century plus has fashioned an environment where her Romeo must be a cheat, a liar and a merciless pursuer of his own vanity- nudges her further into an odd, self-imposed amnesia. She can no longer cope with humanity’s simplest foibles. Mundane moments circle her like vultures. The impossibility of any escape from life is a giant chasm swallowing her.
Blue Jasmine is a perfect example of Woody Allen’s thinly veiled contempt for a culture increasingly more cutthroat and scornful of the middle class (illuminated by an inspired Andrew Dice Clay- as Ginger’s ex-husband, Augie, a man also wronged by Jasmine’s deceptive businessman ex, Hal). A particularly wonderful scene comes toward the end of the movie when Clay’s Augie confronts Jasmine on the street. Augie expresses the plight of the middle class in a few short sentences stunning Jasmine into a much needed self-realization. Also in Blue Jasmine's cast- comedian, Louis C.K., as a man who has an affair with Ginger, and Peter Sarsgaard as a love interest of Jasmine. Allen shot film in San Francisco with spanish born and bred cinematographer, Javier Aguirresarobe, in his 2nd collaboration with Allen (1st was Vicky Cristina Barcelona).
Blue Jasmine may not be one of Allen’s greats. It’s no Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) or even Sweet and Lowdown (1999). It isn’t as whimsical and lovable as 2011’s Midnight in Paris. Jasmine is Allen's spin on Tennesee Williams' theatrical masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire (1st performed in 1947). It is Blanchett’s show (clearly) and she knows it. She owns the role attacking every scene with a craft and technique rarely seen these days. The combination of her and Allen was a good idea and a joy to behold. Jasmine, however Blue she may be, fights to stay relevant and pushes against life’s adversaries. Blanchett’s blaze drives Woody’s ruminations home with a vengeance and you’ll leave the theatre jarred by her performance. It's invigorating to see a thoroughbred deliver an old Horse’s script with this kind of authority, grit, and freshness.