Blue Jasmine is a big film with big shots and big emotions. This is Woody Allen's third film shot in 2.35:1, the other two being the iconic Manhattan and forgettable Anything Else. This is a departure from Allen's normal use of 1.85 or 1.37. This aspect ratio is often reserved for films about comic book heroes and snowboarders. Allen used this additional canvas to write his love letter to New York in Manhattan with his gorgeous black & white cityscapes. Though Blue Jasmine does take place in San Francisco, the city does not play a starring role as New York does in Manhattan. Yes, Allen does give us few shots of the Frisco Bay and the rolling hills. In Blue Jasmine, Allen fills his screen with the caged, nervous, delusional emotions of the starring role Jasmine. The effect is claustrophobic. I was reminded of Paul Thomas Anderson use of 70mm in last fall's The Master, a film stock normally reserved for epics such as The Lawrence of Arabia and Ben-Hur. In both Blue Jasmine and The Master, the medium of epic film has been turned inward, to explore the world of emotion, memory and subjectivity.
Blue Jasmine is a loose interpretation of A Streetcar Named Desire. Cate Blanchett's Jasmine moves in with her sister in San Francisco after suffering hardships in the east. Allen's method of story telling consists of jump cuts from San Francisco to New York, with the major story in San Francisco progressing chronologically. The back story in New York jumps achronologically, narrowing in on a harrowing act of betrayal. The cuts are at times abrupt, but they retain a psychological continuity. At times they serve as simple vehicle for back story, but also to dive into the mind of Jasmine—images, painful and joyous memories, loose associations. The mention of french perfume throws us into a 5th Avenue conversation with a friend.
Allen is at his best with the awkward deadpan coffee talk and quips. A notable scene that comes to mind—Jasmine is babysitting her nephews and has taken them out to a pizza joint. Over a glass of white wine, she turns on her socialite cocktail party persona, advising them to always tip service workers well and reminiscing how "Blue Moon" played when she met her husband. The boys gape, understanding nothing of a world of which they will never be members.
Overall, the film left me neither sympathetic for Jasmine nor did I find myself hungry for blood. Allen offers a rich commentary on the aesthetic beauty of class divisions. He seduces us with creme blouses, big sunglasses, and white stone over the bay with beautiful faces. But the viewer knows the moral compromises that brought those images into being. On the other hand, he portrays the lower class with a sort of cartoon tenderness of simplicity and charm. In an economically divided world, Allen offers no definitive answers. On a philosophic level, Allen asks, what do we do with our history? Do we forget and move on? Or do we try to revive the past in a different form? Can we forgive? Blue Jasmine offers a portrayal of one women's path of self-destruction trying to find an answer and a new life in the west. The film is notable darker than his past two films Midnight in Paris and To Rome with Love. Allen channels the spirit of Beckett in his post-recession America, an America that is lost and forgetful.
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