Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen has turned his back on comedy for his new film Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett as a pampered wife who loses it all. Although he found success in tourist comedies: Midnight in Paris, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, To Rome with Love, Allen has reached back into his creative past to produce a personal, interior drama. The storyline centres around Blanchett’s character, playing a trophy wife whose husband turns out to be a crook and she loses everything. She is then, penniless, forced to live with her sister Ginger in San Francisco, criticising her lifestyle choices and all-in-all, thinking herself too good to be living in her current situation.

The film promises for an exciting drama by Allen, heightened with the high expectations from the brilliant cast. The idea of a woman from a rich lifestyle falling to a more humble atmosphere is certainly a notable trend in comedies where her adjustments become the source of the humour. At the same time, there is a trend of darkness that blends smoothly with the tone of the comedy. The shift from drama to humour follows through with Blanchett’s character who spirals into a depressive state, followed with a potential drinking problem. Another theme that emerges is the simplistic family versus money, another potential stepping stone for fierce, passionate drama. With a dash of Alec Baldwin’s charm and wit to look forward to, Allen’s Blue Jasmine shows exciting promise this autumn, whether a film of a downward tragic spiral of a housewife or a comedy of an upper class housewife changing social classes, it’s sure to be a film of heightened drama from the cast.

Yasmin Mahdy