Film: Blue Jasmine

So finally, after all my blogging about it, I got to see Blue Jasmine tonight, in the Odeon Kensington. It was packed - whether because of the film, or because of Orange Wednesdays, or for some other reason. Anyhow, I didn't mind going to the front, because the screen (#4) is TINY! You really need to be at the front of this cinema, or the screen will be smaller than some tvs..

So, Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, a woman whose life is falling apart around her. Alec Baldwin is the scheming husband whose financial shenanigans led her to this mess. (My, isn't his IMDB bio full of it?!) Sally Hawkins, who is actually from London, and whose face is vaguely familiar, plays her sister, with whom she moves in. Bobby Cannavale is the sister's boyfriend, as much a loser as her ex-husband, in Jasmine's eyes. And Peter Sarsgaard plays the new love interest in Jasmine's life.

Well, this is an extremely good film. Thought-provoking, too. Kudos to Cate - that's an Oscar nomination if ever I saw one. Her performance is magnificent, and completely believable as she veers from fragile elegance to drunken despair and back again. And as they say in the reviews, even when she's being obnoxious - criticising her sister's life, for instance - you tend to agree with her on some level. Yes, she's made a mess of things herself - but she's the first to admit it. And she's doing her best.

Actually, one thing I found interesting, thinking about it afterwards, was the extent to which these women's lives are dictated by the men in their lives. Jasmine gets herself into this mess by being completely dependant on her husband, who ends up in prison and leaves her bankrupt. Her sister's only chance for an easy life came when her husband won the lottery - he then invested it all in Jasmine's husband's schemes and lost it all. Neither sister is happy without a man in her life - Jasmine's hopes seem to rest on finding an eligible man with a "substantial" job, while her sister is keen to have a man about the place, as a role model for her sons. Her actions through the film indicate that she is, as Jasmine accuses her at one point, willing to "settle" for what she can get. In men, as well as everything else.

You could also make the point that the only real female independence shown in the film is by Jasmine. I won't give away the plot, but she is the only one to try to take steps, independent of a man, to improve her lot. And she suffers for her independence at every turn.. Excellent film, highly recommended.

Probably a film tomorrow night again - currently top of the list is "Everyone's Going to Die". (!) No, it's not a horror film.. I see the rating for it shot up today. For Friday, I'm going to see Land of Our Fathers - must look up where that is on again - and on Saturday, Scenes from a Marriage. And then back to the ever-increasing film list. I swear, they really did release fewer over the summer!