Review of Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) by Diego T — 11 Jan 2014

Every once in a while, a film will come along that sparks controversy. A LOT of it. And although other films this year, such as The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave have caused some because of their graphic depictions of sex, drug use, slavery, and violence, they represent the smallest fraction of visual insanity that is featured in Blue is the Warmest Color. I have been watching movies semi-professionally for three years now, and over the course of this time I've watched over 700 films. But I can safely say that I've never seen anything quite like this one. Do not let the reviewers fool you-- They aren't prudes, there really is a FUCKLOAD of sex in this movie. But I'm going to try and judge it purely based on its dialogue, use of metaphors, acting, story, and camerawork... and try to ignore the fact that PEOPLE HAVE SEX EVERY FIVE MINUTES-- Okay. I'm calm. I will be as straightforward as I can with this, and attempt not to go totally off the rails over the insanity of what I just saw.

Blue is the Warmest Color is adapted from a graphic (AND I MEAN GRAPHIC) novel of the same name. This film is French, and given its subject matter, I am already inclined to give it a higher score. France, as you may know, has had some trouble recently regarding gay rights. There have been protests in the street by homophobes who get all butthurt (or as the French say, "la douleur de la crosse") over laws allowing gays and lesbians the same rights as straight couples. So this is definitely an important film to see, especially if you are a bigoted fuckhead with the mental capacity of an overripe turnip. Sadly, I doubt that the film will make a big impact on the bigoted fuckheads here in the United States (after all, it's got subtitles, and it's not like bigots can read very well), but it's still an important step forward for France.

The film stars Adèle Exarchopoulos as a young girl who, after a chance meeting, falls madly in love with an older lesbian named Emma (Léa Seydoux) with blue hair. It's never quite clear if Emma makes her realize that she's been a lesbian all along, or if she was so charismatic that she made her "switch teams," so to speak. But either way, she leaves quite an impression on both Adèle and the audience. The dialogue between the two feels real to the point where you forget that you are actually watching a movie, which is a very rare thing in ANY kind of movie these days, especially romances. I didn't stop believing what was happening for a second, although during the SEX SCENES, I started to wonder just what it was like to film this thing. According to the two leads, the director of this movie had horrible on-set manners, which probably made these difficult scenes ever harder to film. But even so, it's hard to tell this from the movie, as everything runs very smoothly throughout it.

BITWC is definitely going to go down in history (unfortunately) as That One NC-17 Lesbian Movie With All the Sex. But it honestly disgusts me that this movie got such a rating. Sure, there is a lot of graphic nudity in this film, but it's not like it was vapid and pointless like the sex in some movies. These two characters were actually in love, so what kind of world do we live in where the natural act of physical love is frowned upon like this, while utterly idiotic movies that are jam-packed with blood and gore squeeze by with a PG-13 rating? God, it sickens me to the core. Yes, this movie was an all-out assault on good taste, and yes, I couldn't lift my jaw back up to my mouth for a good half-hour after seeing it, but nothing in this is going to leave some kind of lasting impression on me that will scar me for life. The ratings system is a form of censorship, and although it's definitely more agreeable than the Motion Picture Production Code, it's still a higher power telling us what we can and can't see. There are no actual written laws about what you can put in a movie today, but movie theaters still turn teenagers away from R-rated film, and many theaters still refuse to play NC-17 films. I hate to give so much attention to the controversy of this film, because it certainly has other merits, but I respect it immensely for not cowtowing to "good taste" and right-wing Christian values crap like that. This is an important film to see.

Although there's a lot of people doin' the nasty in this movie (perhaps too much), it should not be categorized this way. No, male reviewers don't only like it for this reason-- It is powerfully acted and visually arresting. The undertones of true love and soul mates are present throughout, and there is a lot of symbolism throughout, ranging from the obvious (when the main characters eat oysters... yeesh) to the more obscure (when Adèle swims in the sea, which of course is blue). Looking for these metaphors can take time, but you don't really have to, because the dialogue is just as strong as the visual grandeur of the film. Even the small talk between the characters is absolutely spellbinding. You just don't get great drama like this very much nowadays, and even though it was ridiculously ambitious, it had my attention from beginning to end. Not many three-hour movies have had me totally riveted from the get-go-- In fact, I can think of only two others, Lawrence of Arabia and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly-- But this had perfect pacing and likable characters, leading to one of the most enjoyable movie experiences of the year.

Final Score for Blue is the Warmest Color: 8/10 stars. My problems with this movie are few, but when they are present, they are pretty significant. Although the sex definitely had a "wow" factor, it honestly did not need to happen so often. Not being a prude, just saying... repetitious grunting and moaning does not further the plot or provide character development. As it is with any film, I fully support scenes of nudity the same way I support scenes of spontaneous decapitation. But if you're going to put a lot of it in your movie, you should have some reasoning behind it to back it up. And even if there's a lot of it in this, the reasoning is sound. This film is about love and loss, and what people are willing to go through in the name of true love. The main character is likable, the dialogue is fantastic, and the cinematography is utterly spectacular. Minor flaws aside, this is one of the best films of 2013. But would it have killed them to use the song "Crystal Blue Persuasion" in it? Damn... missed opportunity.