Only someone who is deeply in love with the art of filmmaking can tell a story like this. To make a black and white film in 2016 and build it around a casual chit-chat between two individuals who, accidentally, get a chance to fantasise and live their happily ever after once again, just for a day, needs guts. The whole vibe of this film is something else.
As you get engrossed in the conversation between these two lovers, you keep everything aside and keep listening to them – till the movie ends. And then, there is a sigh – of relief? Maybe yes, maybe not! That depends on how you look at the end. Is it sorrowful or is it liberating for you?
The beauty of Blue Jay is its simple storyline and unique storytelling. There is absolutely no noise in the film and that tells you how the characters are feeling after meeting each other – calm and peaceful!
The ex-lovers are not only still in love but they found home in each other quite soon in their lives. That is what went wrong! Too young to handle the purity of love and the responsibilities that come with being in love. Just like the duo, you keep asking yourself what might have gone so horribly wrong in their loves that they had to part ways. The couple who started from where they left immediately upon meeting each other – why would they go different ways in the first place? Sometimes, all we can do is blame it on destiny.
Everything falls apart when in reality, everything could go smoothly.
There is one scene in Blue Jay where Jim and Amanda are seen lying in the cargo bed space of their truck (my apologies if cargo bed is not what that space is called) where they just have deep conversations about their lives, especially Amanda who confesses that she is taking anti-depressant and have not told this to her husband yet. When they have a final conversation about what went wrong in their relationship, that conversation just connects the dots and you know how deeply the breakup has impacted the couple – to an extent where, both are still broken, in their own ways. Both are still finding the missing pieces, in their own ways. Where do they find them?
They find those missing pieces in the company of the other person.
Last but not the least, Blue Jay is a soulful love story that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
In one line, I would say, ‘Blue Jay is love’ for you – the love that filmmakers carry in their hearts for the art of storytelling that cinema is!
P.S: How can I not mention the greyhound conversation between the couple? How beautifully has writer told us that Amanda has now given up on what she truly loves and desires and has started living life practically – and that is where she has lost herself. That is what tells us why even after having a perfect life, she is taking anti-depressants. Good storytelling is addictive, I tell you!
