Review of Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) by Adam T — 06 Feb 2017

A beautiful, beautiful film that is unfortunately marked by controversy. What is controversial about the film, and what becomes more so upon the leading actresses' testimonials, is the way gender and orientation plays a role in the various sex scenes that occur. Namely, that a heterosexual man filmed two heterosexual women for the 10 minutes of screen-time, but basing some scenes off a homosexual woman's graphic novel. While there is no definitive answer of who's gender and who's orientation intersects to create this controversy, I think it's worthwhile remaining inquisitive of why those that hold power continue to tell the stories of marginalised peoples.

Despite that, some scenes that resonated with me most were in the first half of the film - of teenagers pressuring teenagers to conform to their socially accepted gender roles, and being pressured to understand complex sexual identities, while struggling to fit in through a whole lot of confusion. As always, LGBT films continue to remain on the sidelines of mainstream cinema. But there is no doubt that Blue is the Warmest Colour plays its part in integrating (and normalizing) these stories into the public conscious.