Direction: Georgia Oakley
Country: UK
Sharing its title with David Bowie’s great 1984 song, Blue Jean is Georgia Oakley’s feature debut, a lesbian-themed drama film starring Rosy McEwen as the title character, plus Lucy Halliday and Kerrie Hayes.
In 1988 Britain under Section 28, a divorced PE teacher (McEwen) hides her homosexuality due to the fear of losing her job. But life changes abruptly when she stumbles upon Lois (Halliday), one of her 15-year-old students, at the gay bar where she often meets with her girlfriend, Viv (Hayes), and their friends.
Shot in 16mm, the film is met more often with “meh” than “wow” reactions, being a bit soapy in spots. It’s disconcerting how this potentially good story didn’t touch me a bit. While the importance of the topic slips up with the poor chemistry between the actors, every attempt by Oakley to make it guileless falls apart. It’s perhaps a little over-reliant on a script that is not particularly clever.
Jean’s passive voice doesn't align with her true intentions and she desperately tries to mend the damage on every front. The filmmaker probably counted on the natural charisma of McEwen to make the difference, but it didn't suffice. Even if the agenda does come with good intentions, the developments are less daring than expected, making Blue Jean a shockingly dull work with which I wasn’t able to connect.
