Review of Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) by Mike N — 06 Mar 2014

It was unprecedented when the Cannes film festival awarded the Palme D'Or not just to director Abdelatif Kechiche, but to the film's two stars Lea Seydoux and the unknown Adele Exarchopoulos. A festival grounded, at times stubbornly so, in tradition breaking from it so strongly made Blue is the Warmest Colour a massively talked about film before anyone even knew about the 3+ hour run time or the sex scene so graphic it might never get seen in the US. Then the talk of the sex scene came, and never went away. Everyone was fixated on it, for better or worse. Finally it came to the US and...nothing. No Oscars, no big uproar. It turns out people would much rather talk about a 3 hour French film with a sex scene than bother to watch it. Which is an absolute tragedy, because leaving the film, you don't remember the run time, or the sex. You do remember seeing something extraordinary, and witnessing one of the greatest performances ever committed to film.

Blue is the Warmest Colour tells the story of Adele, who begins the film at age 15. She has a boyfriend, does alright in school, and spends time with her friends. Everything changes, however, when she meets Emma. Emma is older, she's an artist. She's well read, sophisticated, and attractive. The two bond, and eventually fall in love. Yes, its a lesbian romance, but the film isn't a "gay film" in the way Brokeback Mountain was. It's not about discovering ones homosexuality, but discovering one's self. Is Adele attracted to Emma for her gender? No, it's her intellect, her attitude, her maturity. The very things that will cause their relationship to ultimately fail. The things that ultimately kill so many relationships. Certainly, in the first hour Adele faces ridicule for "being a dyke", but after that, no one cares. The film is a beautiful love story that happens to be between two women, but their gender is inconsequential. It's a coming of age story about the mistakes everyone makes when falling in love. Everyone has, at one time or another, either been Adele or Emma, swept up in someone's intellect or innocence, pushing them to be the person you want them to be until something just breaks. The writing is beautiful, and directing great, but truly its the two actresses, and especially Exarchopoulos, who elevate the film to absolute perfection. Her emotion is honest and beautiful, and there isn't an insincere moment in the 3 hours we follow her. The film is the story of a failed love, a universal heartbreak, and a remarkable piece of cinema the likes of which we'll not see again in a long time.