SummaryEngland, 1988 – Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government are about to pass a law stigmatising gays and lesbians, forcing Jean, a PE teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at school catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core.
SummaryEngland, 1988 – Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government are about to pass a law stigmatising gays and lesbians, forcing Jean, a PE teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at school catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core.
It's so rare in British cinema to see the "L" in "LGBTQ+" up there in such bold type, which makes Blue Jean not only a biting look at this historical moment but a riveting act of redress.
It is slap-in-the-face powerful, taking place 35 years ago (I always wonder in period pieces where the characters are today; Jean would be in her mid-60s) but full of the kind of educational turmoil and “woke” fears that stoke today’s Western culture wars. The more things change...
Típico filme francês, embora seja rodado numa Londres à época de Margareth Tatcher, acompanha a vida de uma professora de educação física que precisa lidar com sua lesbianidade.
O filme consegue passar a mensagem política de forma poética e universal, sem ser estridente, é incrível que a mão leve do diretor torna tudo muito palatável, até mesmo as cenas de sexo são composições bem orgânicas e funcionais à obra.
Ainda no armário, a professora lidera um time de netball feminino e tem que lidar com os conflitos entre as meninas, ao mesmo tempo que surgem conflitos pelo seu relacionamento, com alguém muito mais independente do que ela.
O filme faz questão de nos lembrar o seu período histórico e a época da contracultura europeia, exigindo uma postura muito mais ativa, ao mesmo tempo que surge um alerta delicado, cujo filme se focou apenas em mostrar uma tela na parede: a descoberta da AIDS.
Neste compasso, a professora vai minuciosamente se descobrindo. No começo do filme ela chega a dizer à namorada: "nem tudo é política", sendo retrucada de imediato, pois sim, esconder-se é uma opção pessoal, mas como diriam as autoras da segunda onda do movimento feminista, "o pessoal é político".
Mesmo sendo um filme enquadrado de forma convencional, o seu final é magistral.
Oakley’s care and McEwen’s intense performance make Blue Jean one of this year’s most impressive movies. It deals with so much heartbreak without as many words; its pain is communicated through its somberly beautiful palette and performances.
Oakley’s interrogating approach of a moral moment and McEwen’s portrayal of see-through armor help us understand the viewpoint of someone who was never going to be a hero, but who could tragically internalize a rising hatred that might upend her life at any moment.
Blue Jean manages to take an ancient anti-LGBTQ+ law and use it to foster a story of personal liberation. But it also knows that when your basic rights are threatened, no matter who you are or how you live or who you love, everything most assuredly is political.
Gloria Guida plays a street prostitute nicknamed "Blue Jeans" who, once accused of prostitution, falsely claims to be the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy artist to defend herself. Lived in this "stepfather"'s castle and then fell in love with this man even more, and tried to break up him and his girlfriend by all means, but her boyfriend also came ****/news/index/142.html
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It wasn’t all that long ago when the LGBTQ+ community not only didn’t have legal protections for its rights, but also faced blatant discrimination against its constituents, prejudiced initiatives aimed at denying them equal treatment under the law and even subjecting them to lawfully sanctioned ostracism. This was true even in “civilized” and “progressive” societies like those found in North America and Europe. And it prompted individuals to live in fear of losing their jobs and leaving them open to ridicule without ramifications, not to mention disrespect and mistrust from their own families. Those chilling conditions are ominously brought to light in this period piece drama set in the UK in the late 1980s, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government sought the passage of Section 28, legislation aimed at prohibiting activities openly promoting ****, a bill carrying wide-sweeping implications for the LGBTQ+ community. Many of its constituents, like a young lesbian physical education teacher (Rosy McEwen), retreated into the closet to keep out of sight. But those efforts derailed whatever social progress had been made, damaging those individuals’ self-esteem and creating a divisive schism between those who vociferously demanded justice and those who chose to keep a low profile to protect themselves, as evidenced by the experiences of the teacher and her out and proud girlfriend (Kerrie Hayes). Writer-director Georgia Oakley’s debut feature does a fine (if somewhat predictable) job of illustrating this rift and the effects it had on both the public and personal lives of these people, an effort that earned the film a 2022 BAFTA Award nomination for Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. Admittedly, the picture’s opening act meanders a bit, but, once it gets on track, when the emergence of various damning revelations threatens to blow things wide open, it steadily grows more powerful and heartfelt, qualities supported by the fine performances of the cast, solid writing, and its skillfully crafted atmospheric cinematography and production design. It also provides viewers with a potent cautionary tale about the effects of initiatives like Section 28 (which was in force from 1988 to 2003) and the parallels to this legislation that are currently under consideration in various US jurisdictions. It effectively shows us how Jean became so blue – and how we should seek to prevent the same from happening to the rest of us.