Blue Jasmine
After experiencing a traumatic misfortune, Jasmine French, a wealthy woman from New York, moves to San Francisco to live with her foster sister Ginger and the firm purpose of getting a new life, but she will be haunted by anxiety and memories of the past.
Despite a moderate budget of $18.0M, Blue Jasmine became a solid performer, earning $99.1M worldwide—a 451% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Blue Jasmine (2013) exhibits precise plot construction, characteristic of Woody Allen's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 13-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 39 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.0, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Jasmine arrives in San Francisco on a plane, talking compulsively to a stranger about her past life of luxury, revealing her fragile mental state and denial about her fall from wealth.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when Jasmine learns she must find work and cannot simply restart her upper-class life, forcing her to confront her new reality without money or skills.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 25 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Jasmine takes a job as a dentist's receptionist, her first real work, committing to surviving in this new world despite her humiliation about her reduced circumstances., moving from reaction to action.
The Collapse moment at 75 minutes (76% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Dwight discovers Jasmine's lies when her stepson Augie exposes the truth at a store. Dwight abandons her immediately, destroying her last hope of reclaiming her former life., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 80 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Jasmine leaves Ginger's apartment with her luggage, completely alone and mentally breaking down, unable to synthesize her past with reality or find redemption., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Blue Jasmine's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 13 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping Blue Jasmine against these established plot points, we can identify how Woody Allen utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Blue Jasmine within the drama genre.
Woody Allen's Structural Approach
Among the 42 Woody Allen films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Blue Jasmine represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Woody Allen filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Woody Allen analyses, see Sleeper, Celebrity and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Jasmine arrives in San Francisco on a plane, talking compulsively to a stranger about her past life of luxury, revealing her fragile mental state and denial about her fall from wealth.
Theme
Ginger tells Jasmine "You can't just turn your back on reality," establishing the film's central theme about facing truth versus living in delusion.
Worldbuilding
Flashbacks establish Jasmine's former life of Manhattan wealth with husband Hal, contrasted with her current reality staying in Ginger's modest apartment. We learn of her financial ruin, pill dependency, and fragile grip on reality.
Disruption
Jasmine learns she must find work and cannot simply restart her upper-class life, forcing her to confront her new reality without money or skills.
Resistance
Jasmine resists accepting her situation, taking online interior design courses while looking down on Ginger's boyfriend Chili. Flashbacks show her privileged past and willful ignorance of Hal's crimes. She struggles with anxiety and pills.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Jasmine takes a job as a dentist's receptionist, her first real work, committing to surviving in this new world despite her humiliation about her reduced circumstances.
Premise
Jasmine pursues Dwight while maintaining her fabricated identity as an interior designer widow. She encourages Ginger to leave Chili for the wealthier Al. Flashbacks reveal more about her marriage's collapse and Hal's infidelity.
Opposition
Jasmine's lies become harder to maintain. Ginger's life falls apart after following Jasmine's advice. Flashbacks reveal Jasmine's role in Hal's downfall - she reported him to the FBI after discovering his affair, leading to his arrest and suicide.
Collapse
Dwight discovers Jasmine's lies when her stepson Augie exposes the truth at a store. Dwight abandons her immediately, destroying her last hope of reclaiming her former life.
Crisis
Jasmine returns to find Ginger has reconciled with Chili and has no more patience for her sister. Alone and rejected, Jasmine packs her bags with nowhere to go, her delusions fully shattered.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Jasmine leaves Ginger's apartment with her luggage, completely alone and mentally breaking down, unable to synthesize her past with reality or find redemption.
Synthesis
Jasmine wanders San Francisco streets, her mental state deteriorating. She sits on a bench talking to herself, replaying fantasies of her past life, completely detached from reality and unable to accept the truth.
Transformation
Jasmine sits alone on a park bench, talking aloud to herself about her past, fully lost in delusion with no hope of recovery - the inverse of her opening scene, now with no audience and no future.