In Blue Jasmine – a superb Cate Blanchett displays some of her finest film work to date as Jasmine, a high life-loving New York socialite whose life turns upside down when her wheeler dealer husband (Alec Baldwin) is imprisoned for embezzlement
Forced to move in with Ginger, her working-class sister – played by an equally forceful Sally Hawkins – she confronts the new milieu with a mixture of contempt, revulsion and embarrassment, especially when confronting Ginger’s ex-husband Augie (Andrew Dice Clay) who blames her for ruining his life and marriage.
Woody Allen effortlessly and skilfully flits between Jasmine’s past and present lifestyles, contrasting the laziness of the kept woman alongside the hard-up, desperate, hard-to-like wreck she has become. While Blanchett is the undoubtedly centrepiece of the film, Allen proves himself to be America’s best living ensemble director by eliciting beautifully etched performances from a stunning supporting cast.
As we are aware, Cate Blanchett went on to win the Oscar for Best Female Actress for her performance in Blue Jasmine and deservedly so. It’s a grinding portrayal of a woman dropped into a financial and moral crisis where compromise and self-criticism are the first things she needs to confront, and the last things she wants to.
