Blue is the Warmest Colour - film review

The best bits of this notoriously graphic romance occur in the second half, which is sex-free

These days, gay is more than okay; same-sex love stories are celebrated for their ability to thrill and inspire. Yet it’s part of the wonder of this prize-winning, notoriously graphic romance that it seems to anticipate, and deconstruct, its own status as a trendy cultural object. One of the leads is a lesbian artist who rails against the demands of the marketplace and our willingness to follow “fads”. Blue is the Warmest Colour, fortunately, is built to last.

Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is in high school when we first meet her, in a working-class suburb of Lille. She’s filmed mostly in close-ups (French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, like controversial US auteur Larry Clark, is a fan of close-ups). All wide eyes, cherubic lips and huge, soft cheeks, Adèle overcomes shyness, confusion (and peer pressure) to hook up with middle-class, out-and-proud Emma (Léa Seydoux). Opposites attract. In bed with Emma, Adèle gulps pleasure like a toddler who’s just discovered juice.

Critics are supposed to be dispassionate but, blimey, these scenes are stirring, if somewhat over-extended and a teensy bit air-brushed. Watching Adèle’s beautiful butt get grasped is awesome, up to a point. My limit turned out to be three minutes (one of the sessions lasts for more than six).

But the film’s best bits occur in the second half, which is sex-free. Adèle and Emma are now ensconced in an elegant house, with Emma’s paintings (of a mostly naked Adèle) on the verge of attracting big money. Our heroine — a humble nursery teacher, too scared and confused to come out to colleagues — becomes jealous of one of Emma’s arty friends. Isolated and insecure, she tries to make things better and, instead, makes them worse. Adèle can’t let go and does a lot of desperate crying. Basically, much snot is shed. And, such is the power of this vulnerable young woman, it’s not off-putting in the least: even her mucus is lovely.

It feels wrong to praise Exarchopoulos’s performance over Seydoux’s, because this is so clearly a team effort. At a party for Emma, a Louise Brooks film plays in the background. Brooks was a natural screen icon and both of these astonishing actresses share her intensity.

This film offers class war, pedagogical debates, a moving anti-austerity march and an in-joke about controlling directors. Give up three hours of your life and experience a blue movie like no other.

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