filmbore picks Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (La vie d'Adèle)

Director: Abdel Kechiche
Screenplay: Abdel Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix
Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux
Year: 2013
Language: French
UK rental release: March 2014


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With the romantic spirit of New Years Eve still in our hair, some of us are still bathing in the wake of sentimentality. So, with my last list of Top 10 Alternative Love Stories tuning into the wonkier side of the passionate coin, it seems fitting that we continue to traverse Cupid's flight path with the impressive and memorable Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos, Pieces Of Me) is a 15 year old student, ready to embark on an exploration of life and of herself. 

One morning, her friends espy a boy at school who keeps ogling her, nudging her to consider him for boyfriend material. She isn't so keen though, not succumbing to peer pressure. She meets the young man, Thomas (newcomer Jérémie Laheurte), once again on the bus to school. He's a budding musician, a fact he shares with her during the journey while a brief air of attraction peeks its head.

Adèle first notices Emma (Léa Seydoux, Grand Central, Saint Laurent), the girl with the striking blue hair, on her way to her first date with Thomas. The encounter leaves a mark, as she struggles to understand how it makes her feel. Her true feelings begin to emerge when she's half asleep. She begins to touch herself yet it is not Thomas that's possessing her thoughts... instead, she can only see Emma. 

And as her imagination lets her new muse caress her, a new door in her life opens. She is still so confused at this early phase in her awakening; still trying grasp her feelings for Thomas, which are clearly misdirected, distracted even when they make love. It isn't until a surprising and provoking kiss from a school friend that her inner-self rouses. 


Her affections re-guided, cementing themselves in her heart and mind, it's from here that her adventure really begins...

Unanimously winning the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, director Abdel Kechiche won the gong thirteen years after his debut La Faute à Voltaire. This is so deserved for Blue Is the Warmest Colour, even if just down to the techniques on display.

It carries a rich palette, infused with all manner of natural shades, unabated when seldom punctuated by strikingly sharp colours. Blue, as in the title, is a hugely significant hue, presenting itself at key junctures of gentle epiphany and power. A key sighting of Emma occurs in a nightclub saturated with blue lighting, clearly paving a way for an important encounter.

There's some great use of hand-held pans throughout too. In fact, it's mostly hand-held, with confident extreme close-ups to capture the subtlety in each character's expression. Such intimacy is vital for this picture to work, especially when trying to experience Adèle escapades as fully as possible. The whole picture is pinned to her. This is essential, as her emotional adventure of discovery is the film's core; a centre that you need to relent to, joining her for this tumultuous odyssey.

Emma's persona is well drafted too. She's as much Adèle's muse as Adèle to Emma. And, with such a powerfully effective performance from Exarchopoulos, it's difficult to shine in her light, yet Léa Seydoux has depth and charm of her own. Her personality is aloof and cool, properties most attractive and beguiling to an impressionable Adèle.

When the relationship hits a low, Adèle becomes a lesser version of herself, not teaching at her best capacity. It's through some of these activities in the final segment of the film that we see the breadth of talent in our star. Adèle Exarchopoulos is endearing and untreated, displaying a full spectrum of emotions and aspects in soft, supple delivery so silky you won't even notice the transition. I would be highly surprised if we don't see her career blossom over the next few years, as she's destined for future in acting.

As a final note of the two actresses' brilliance, it needs to be mentioned that they both shared the Palme d'Or with Abdel Kechiche, a rare event, also making Exarchopoulos the youngest woman ever to receive the accolade. It's a shame that this news isn't at the forefront when discussing this picture...

It's at this point that I have to forewarn you of the film's ever present elephant-in-the-room: be prepared for some lengthy, very real sex scenes. They may be too graphic for most, where some of you be uncomfortable just with the fact that there is young nudity on screen (Exarchopoulos was 19 when this was filmed), yet these scenes are not in place to sate your carnal desires. 

These moments are respectful, tender and beautiful, highlighting the innocence and intrigue this phase of young adult life carries with it. This is a difficult angle to achieve with such delicate and destructive weight such scenes could deliver, yet Abdel Kechiche has impressively presented these moments with grace and realism. It's the grittiness of these scenes is also one of the film's strengths. More often than not, the film industry delivers love scenes with a flat, almost false temperament, while always viewed through rose-tinted glasses. Here, they are raw and normal, which is so rare.

Even though these events, which are magnificently shot, have caused some controversy for the flick, they represent a crucial palisade placed halfway through this story; a fence of which Adèle finally jumps down from, choosing which garden she belongs to without any regard for how rocky the terrain will be! The severity and natural being of these key scenes need impact for the whole piece to behave as expected.

And paired with the apparent paranoia and jealousy, perfectly captured through the lens, we're party to the struggle of her slow awakening. It tenderly portrays, through fragile understanding, the steps taken through your late teens when trying to find yourself. In Adèle's case, she fears the treacherous journey into exploring her sexuality, which is delivered on screen in phases and carried with poise, restraint and respectability. All of this manner carries us through the story via the deftness and dexterity of the film's production. Buy into Adèle's plight, and the journey isn't as treacherous...it's joyous!

Those less initiated with films of this ilk, or those who prefer their movies with more immediacy, may find the pace a little lacklustre. And with a three hour running time, that's difficult to argue with this. However, its own patience invites you to apply yours, where you'll be awarded with a genuine and intense drama that's both sensitively rich and calmly entrancing. But, above, it's a story that speaks to us all.

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