Acclaimed French filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche’s latest, based on Julie Maroh’s graphic novel, was the sensation of this year’s Cannes Film Festival even before it was awarded the Palme d’Or. Adèle Exarchopoulos is a young woman whose longings and ecstasies and losses are charted across a span of several years. Léa Seydoux (Midnight in Paris) is the older woman who excites her desire and becomes the love of her life. Kechiche’s movie is, like the films of John Cassavetes, an epic of emotional transformation that pulses with gestures, embraces, furtive exchanges, and arias of joy and devastation. It is a profoundly moving hymn to both love and life.
This is an amazing film about young love that is actually honest with its audience. There are countless of films about people falling in love, but when you see “Blue is the Warmest Colour”. You realize just how rare films are that make a sincere attempt to catch what it really is like to fall for someone, without sentimentality, forced cuteness or cheap emotional manipulation. This is the rare love story that has real emotional truth about it. The fact that it is about two women who fall for each other is almost secondary to the way the film catches the universality of what it is like to fall in love and maintain the relationship.
“Blue is the Warmest Colour is a naturalistic and touching film, whether you’re gay, straight, bisexual, or whatever orientation. This is a film that can give you relationship advice and life guidance no matter what your orientation may be. It isn’t an indulgent film bringing only a unique gay relationship to light and nothing more, and it isn’t an ode to “coming out” and stockpiled clichés of “being different.” It shows how an interaction with a person can have a truly provocative impact on you as a person.
The struggles between the two lovers is depicted in breathtaking detail. The director masterfully captures all of the turmoil and hardship going on between Adele’s and Emma’s relationship. The movie’s long running time does not effect the film at all because you are so immersed into their characters. The sexual realization of Adele is perfectly shown in the movie. She is confused and doesn’t know what she wants, it is a typical teenage problem.
This movie is ultimately about Adele and her struggles to find her true self. The transformation that she experiences is utterly engrossing to watch. The film’s nearly three hour running time is devoted to showing the growth of her character and it is absolutely amazing to watch it unfold right in front of your eyes.The intimate scene’s between Adele and Emma are nothing short of miraculous in their depth and their honesty. The conversations are heartfelt, and the pain is evident and shared. It’s realism of the world we live in is honest and raw.
The movie owes so much of it’s emotional power to its two fantastic actresses. They really bring it their all in this. I’ve never had doubts of these two performances, the characters felt like real people and you felt so much for their relationship. Their emotional hardships feel completely real. The character’s flaws and insecurities feel so authentic because you actually believe them as real human beings. We never lose sight of their chemistry and devotion to one another, even in the most difficult of times.
The two of them are like fireworks, waiting to explode out. I cannot recommend this film enough to those of you out there who are interested in seeing this. This is one of the wisest and least condescending films I’ve seen this year. I congratulate the director, Abdellatif Kechiche and the two actresses, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux for an emotional and spiritual journey that had me compelled to the screen for 179 glorious minutes.
Development (2013)
Director and screenwriter Abdellatif Kechiche developed the premise for Blue Is the Warmest Colour while directing his second feature film, Games of Love and Chance. He met teachers “who felt very strongly about reading, painting, writing” and it inspired him to develop a script which charts the personal life and career of a female French teacher. However, the concept was only finalised a few years later when Kechiche chanced upon Julie Maroh’s graphic novel, and he saw how he could link his screenplay about a school teacher with Maroh’s love story between two young women.
Casting (2013)
In late 2011, a casting call was held in Paris to find the ideal actress for the role of Adèle. Casting director Sophie Blanvillain first spotted Adèle Exarchopoulos and then arranged for her to meet Abdellatif Kechiche. Exarchopoulos described how her auditions with Kechiche over the course of two months consisted of improvisation of scenarios, discussions and also of them both sitting in a café, without talking, while he quietly observed her. It was later, a day before the New Year, that Kechiche decided to offer Exarchopoulos the leading role in the film; as he said in an interview, “I chose Adèle the minute I saw her. I had taken her for lunch at a brasserie. She ordered lemon tart and when I saw the way she ate it I thought, ‘It’s her!’”
On the other hand, Léa Seydoux was cast for the role of Emma, ten months before principal photography began in March 2012. Kechiche felt that Seydoux “shared her character’s beauty, voice, intelligence and freedom” and that she has “something of an Arabic soul”. He added on saying, “What was decisive during our meeting was her take on society: She’s very much tuned in to the world around her. She possesses a real social awareness, she has a real engagement with the world, very similar to my own. I was able to realise to how great an extent, as I spent a whole year with her between the time she was chosen for the role and the end of shooting.” Speaking to Indiewire on the preparation for her role, Seydoux said “During those ten months (before shooting) I was already meeting with him (Kechiche) and being directed. We would spend hours talking about women and life; I also took painting and sculpting lessons, and read a lot about art and philosophy.”
Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
Starring: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Jérémie Laheurte, Catherine Salée, Alma Jodorowsky, Anne Loiret, Fanny Maurin, Maelys Cabezon, Samir Bella
Screenplay by: Julie Maroh, Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix
Cinematography by: Sofian El Fani
Film Editing by: Sophie Brunet, Ghalia Lacroix, Albertine Lastera, Jean-Marie Lengelle, Camille Toubkis
Set Decoration by: Coline Débée, Julia Lemaire
MPAA Rating: NC-17 for explicit sexual content.
Studio: Wild Bunch Films
Release Date: October 25, 2013
Visits: 115
