Rosy McEwen

Kerrie Hayes

Lucy Halliday

Lydia Page

Becky Lindsay

Maya Torres

Ellen Gowland

Amy Booth-Steel

Stacy Abalogun

Izzy Neish

Kate Soulsby

Lainey Shaw

Farrah Cave

Deka Walmsley

Gavin Kitchen

Emily Fairweather

Aoife Kennan

Scott Turnbull

Dexter Heads

Kylie Ann Ford

Edmund Wiseman

Elizabeth Shaw

Nick Figgis

Isla Bowles

Catherine Lee

Shannon McLean

Mana Azarish

Oliver Maratty Quinn

George Legg

Laura Rutherford

Darren Jones

Patrick Ziza

David Gales

Georgia Oakley

Hélène Sifre

Victor Seguin

Izabella Curry

Kirsty Halliday

Tudor Colac

Eliora Darmon

Xena Kirby

Dave Peter Whitelock

Soraya Gilanni Viljoen

Jim Reeve

Stuart Truesdale

Meghan Grieve

Rosslyn Oman

Eva Yates

Noah Demeuldre

Dean Covill

James Trusson

Joshua Tot Carr

Caitlin McDaid

Stuart Wright

Jamie Hamer

Joana Magalhães

La' Toyah McDonald

Rob Davidson

Paul Howell

Nina Norek

Oliver Ferris

Sue Harding

Kat Morgan

Rachel Holifield

Shaheen Baig

Elizabeth Donker Curtius

Marie-Elena Dyche

Barbara Maria Hauser

Chris Roe

Liv Playfair

Amelia Deering

Philippe Barrière

James Mather

Katie Jenkins

Connor Williams

Gabby King

Conor Hammond

Catherine Kinson

Fraser Wilson

Amelia Cox

Daniela Brandano

Ronan Boudier

Kay Harland

Daniele Lydon

Josephine Key

Joe Dinon

Gabriel Brown

Louise Ortega

Bridget Samuels

Jasmine Bell

Paula Rebanks

Shaheen Schleifer

Alessandro Pascale

Mollie Hirst

Christine Urquhart

Fabrico Brandi

Rachel Billings

Annabel Harwood

Chris Georgas

Felix Coles

Tony Sheridan

Darnesh Dadgostar

Mark Sharples

Bob Pipe

Yov Moor

Elliott Pate

Dean King

Martin Meaney

Ruby Alexandra Hirst

Sefa Ucbas

Alex Lewis

Ellie Clissett

Anastasia Brodina

Raymond Volker

Jonathan Alenskas

Marc Sheriff

Adam Mendez

Tom Littlewood

Lorraine Piggott

Matthew Allsop

Dries du Preez

Charlotte Gage

Drama

Blue Jean

BBC Film

Kleio Films

Great Point Media

United Kingdom

English

double life

homophobia

assault

bullying

teacher

lesbian relationship

lgbt

newcastle, england

woman director

1980s

lesbian

secret

CinemaSerf

"Jean" (Rosy McEwan) is a physical education teacher at a school in Northern Engand. Privately, she is having a relationship with the out and proud "Viv" (Kerrie Hayes) but the emphasis here is very much on the "privately" - something that her confident girlfriend struggles to comprehend. When "Lois" (Lucy Halliday) joins her netball class, then runs into her in a bar later, things become complicated for "Jean" and the remainder of the film illustrates just a short segment of her troubled life as her pupils start to put two and two together and mischief and malevolence rears their very ugly heads. As a gay lad who lived at the time I am actually a little tired of films that make out that "Thatcher" was some alien space invader sent by God to cleanse society. The views of her government represented massive numbers of people in Britain - across the political spectrum - who were terrified about the perceived adverse influences on children of what they saw as "permissive" practices. Rather than acknowledge these concerns as legitimate (at the time) and put some national context into this story, this film really only takes a couple of people whose relationship never comes across as especially strong anyway, and try to make a greater political point. To have been successful there, balance is essential. The underlying plot issues are potent, but they are not developed anywhere near enough to create substantial characters and instead offer us a rather undercooked swipe at a system that was as broadly representative then as it is not (thankfully) now. The production is all a bit basic and though McEwan offers us a considered performance and the film is certainly worth watching, I had really hoped for something just a bit deeper and stronger.

Brent Marchant

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 homosexuality, 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.

Gay Bar Clip

Peccadillo Sofa Club 2.17: BLUE JEAN Q&A

Mark Kermode reviews Blue Jean (2022) | BFI Player

Official US Trailer

Blue Jean director Georgia Oakley, actors Rosy McEwen and Kerrie Hayes and producer Hélène Sifre

Dir. Georgia Oakley & Prod. Helene Siffre Interview

"You Can Just Tell"

Official Trailer

"It's Complicated"

Blue Jean( 2023)

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Fri Feb 24 2023

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