Woody Allen's 'Blue Jasmine:' portrait of a lady who loses it all

'PROBABLY A CAREER KILLER'

The film opens with Jasmine traveling to San Francisco after the arrest of her husband for financial fraud and the confiscation of their assets. She is a babbling mess with no place to go except the humble home of her working-class sister Ginger, played by British actress Sally Hawkins.

Cate Blanchett attends premiere of 'Blue Jasmine'

"I think she finds herself in some pretty horrendous situations and you can say that she has placed herself there, but she has no support structure, or allies, or sense of self, so she is struggling for her identity," said Blanchett.

Jasmine engages in what Blanchett calls some "really unpalatable" behavior. She disapproves of Ginger's life and her choice in men, but then she herself latches onto a suave diplomat played by Peter Sarsgaard, to engineer her return to society. She lies, she manipulates, and she gives off airs, designer purse and pills always in hand.

"Blue Jasmine," from Sony Pictures Classic, is Allen's return to his home country after European jaunts in his last three films, including 2011's "Midnight in Paris" and 2012's "To Rome With Love." While those were both love letters to romantic cities and characters, "Blue Jasmine" has undertones of a Greek tragedy.

Blanchett said she drew inspiration for the role from characters both fictional and real, but Jasmine is formed mainly in Allen's mind.

"The characters are so particularly drawn in the writing," she said. "I mean that is where the majority of where his directing happens is in the script."

But she did venture to make suggestions, including for one indelible scene. The actress decided that Jasmine, who looks pretty polished from the outside for most of the film, would go out in public with her Chanel jacket but with wet hair and no make-up to show that "there is always something a bit off."

"That was probably a career killer," Blanchett said with a laugh.