You're the worst of them all

Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2023

#19 :  Blue Jean

On Tyneside in the late 1980s, closeted PE teacher Jean (an extraordinary Rosy McEwen) is trying to navigate the end of the Thatcher years, when Section 28 legislation forbade the “promotion” of queer sexualities in schools. <CENSORED>. Georgia Oakley’s debut is a meditative, layered piece of work which peels away at the defences Jean has put up around herself to survive in a hostile Britain, and McEwen is electrifying, carrying almost every frame. The grainy feel and melancholy palette add to the oppressive period setting, but there is queer joy to be found here, too – in the scenes in which Jean is surrounded by her community, as she eats takeaway with her girlfriend, and, ultimately, when she embraces who she is.

Another film that doesn't appear on The Guardian's list - which is somewhat surprising because it feels like a very Guardianesque film. I have heard Rosy McEwen is great in it, but apart from that I'm pretty much in the dark about the whole thing.

Jean is, as The Guardian puts it, a closeted PE teacher but seems to have her life under some sort of control, despite not seeming massively happy about it. And what are the chances of things staying that way for 97 minutes? Well, it wouldn't be the most interesting film ever if nothing changed - I'm not going to tell you anything more about it (and I've censored the unnecessary spoiler that Empire gave) but I will say it has a very satisfactory conclusion.

In the best way possible, I have to admit I really didn't like watching this film because I didn't enjoy the overwhelming sense of dread that I had almost all the way through that it was all going to go horribly wrong for Jean - I'm so rubbish that I had to watch it in small chunks over many days. Despite that, however, it does have an awful lot going for it. 

Firstly, it's incredibly well written (by Georgia Oakley, who also directs) - Jean is a very relatable character who is put in several impossible situations where there's no obvious right answer and the unwillingness of the other parties to recognise this is very believable. Additionally, Jean doesn't always make the best possible choices, but they're perfectly understandable in the context of the film.

A lot of that credibility comes from the terrific central performance by Rosy McEwen - she's in almost every scene of the film and she really carries it. She has quite the range of emotions to convey and she does so very effectively - hence my inability to watch the film for any length of time. Also worthy of mention are Kerrie Hayes as Viv, Jean's girlfriend (I'm not sure I totally agreed with the stereotypical 80s lesbian look, but I understand the reasoning behind it) and Lucy Halliday as Lois, one of her students.

The look of the film is also great - Georgia has a keen eye for a shot and the camera takes its time, without overstaying its welcome (I was reminded of Francis Lee's style, but more urban). The retro touches are done well from the dated decor to the run-down neighbourhoods (complete with Section 28 billboards). Her sister's middle-class house is also absolutely spot-on and the cars are well done - I think the film cleverly gets away with only using three of them throughout. It also feels very realistic in terms of attitudes and I can believe it will ring a lot of bells for people around my age - I may be speaking from the other side of the fence but things really were very different back then (some of the extracts from political speeches of the time are unbelievable).  It's also got a simple but effective soundtrack which ramps up the tension nicely at times.

One word of warning - I would sat that, somewhat unsurprisingly, it features more lesbian sex scenes than you might be happy watching with your parents/children (delete as appropriate). This film is definitely aimed more at an LGBT audience and, depending upon the age of the viewer, feels very likely to either resonate or educate. However, there's a lot to be learned for everyone here and the central theme of trying to decide how to be yourself is still very relevant today.

Provided you're not as soft as me, I'd say this is a great film which is well worth a watch - it's a well written and shot film with an excellent central performance. It's just a shame that I really didn't enjoy watching it, but also very much to its credit that I'm pleased I held on until the end. If you're feeling somewhat stronger of nerve than me (which isn't tricky) then it's currently available to stream on BFIPlayer or Apple TV+ or to rent in all the usual places.

#20 - Impressively grim, but overly long
#18 - Why?