Jan 27, 2014

Movie Review: Blue Jasmine [2013]

When I am asked who is my favorite director, Woody Allen's name never comes up in the first place. But I have to admit that I've loved almost every his movie, including To Rome With Love, that shall not be compared to any other Allen's previous or current works. Blue Jasmine can be he one of the best works, at least what I have seen.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) is a former millionaire, living in New York City, with handsome and rich husband, attending all glamorous parties in the city and hosting a number of them; a friend to many important people. But one day all these ended, because her husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) was arrested for fraud and it took Jasmine's whole wealth. Having lost everything, the only place to go is her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins), living her messy life in San Francisco.

The movie is a terrific look at a person who fell down from a very top of the world, a person who had a fancy apartment on Manhattan and now begging for a shelter. It's a spectacular lesson of failure and diligent attempts to rise again.

Woody, as usually, manages to bring interesting characters on the screen and make them evolve right in front of our eyes. Ultimately, Jasmine is the best of them. Despite all downs in her life, she's still stuck in the past position as if she still lives in the same society. This cause troubles, as Jasmine is trying to restart her life, change something to the better, re-educate herself and people she is daily involved with do not match "high-society" standards. Confusion always brings her back to best friend - alcohol.
Cate delivers absolutely perfect performance, capturing all emotions, raves and confusion of character. Jasmine sometime becomes so real that you are actually scared of her, because she's mad and easily loses control and you never lose this feeling of reality in Blanchett's performance. Doing the things Cate managed to do is as insane as the character herself, because portraying someone so exhaustively is not what we always see.
Sally Hawkins is a great supporting actress. She actually steals every scene Jasmine is not in. Ginger is funny, light-minded, a very easily persuadable person, but truly kind and nice to everybody, especially her sister. On the contrary to main character, she did not seem very diverse and hard one to play, but still Sally manages to sell the sister relationship quite successfully. Did she deserve Oscar nomination?! Well, arguably, no.

The rest of cast is just Ok. Alec Baldwin, who appears  in flashback episodes of Jasmine's life, is quite funny and solid. So is Bobby Cannavale who plays Ginger's boyfriend Chili.
I also found Blue Jasmine to be very beautifully shot film compared to other modern time movies. The camera arrangements, colors and costumes are quite impressive. In every aspect, it is one of the most highly recommended movies to watch this year, especially for the most important reason - the Cate Blanchett's performance.

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8 Comments:

At Jan 27, 2014, 9:57:00 PM , Anonymous Sati said...

Glad you liked Blanchett's performance, then again who didn't?:D No, no I saw some posts about her being fake...I think it comes from the people who never saw a person going through a nervous breakdown, she nailed it to the point it was scary.

 
At Jan 27, 2014, 10:43:00 PM , Anonymous Nika said...

I don't understand those people. She definitely made every single emotions as real as it could be in real life. She is Jasmine!

 
At Jan 28, 2014, 12:06:00 AM , Anonymous Beka Sukhitashvili said...

I think, this performance is another level in Blanchett's filmography! Its ablolutely stunning <3

 
At Jan 28, 2014, 12:10:00 AM , Anonymous Nika said...

welcome Beka to my blog :P


Yes, she's absolutely brilliant here :))

 
At Jan 28, 2014, 12:23:00 AM , Anonymous Beka Sukhitashvili said...

You know, Im reading you blog, but im shamed of writing (My bed English) :D Now, i will more brave!

 
At Jan 28, 2014, 12:36:00 AM , Anonymous Nika said...

you don't have to. we all are bad at some point. just look at those native speakers :D

 
At Feb 3, 2014, 7:28:00 PM , Anonymous Keith & the Movies said...

I really liked this movie. Not perfect but highly entertaining. Blanchett is the popular pick to win the Best Actress Oscar but rightly so. She is phenomenal here. I also loved Andrew Dice Clay. What a surprise he was.

 
At Feb 3, 2014, 7:54:00 PM , Anonymous Nika said...

Agree Keith. She's brilliant. Andrew and the rest of cast are absolutely great, leaving alone Sally Hawkins.

 

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