“Blue Is The Warmest Color” Is One Of The Best Coming-Of-Age Stories In Film
The film beautifully captures the emotion behind a first relationship
The Criterion Collection is a distribution company that specializes in “important” classic and contemporary films. Through Hulu, many of these films are made available to stream. Once a week, I like to illuminate a Criterion movie — to deepen one’s understanding of filmmaking and film history. This week’s movie: “Blue Is The Warmest Color” (2013)
In the expansive world of film, from time to time you run into films in which its reputation is far more well known than the actual film itself. When choosing what to watch, you steer clear of films that are known for being disliked. The ones that are universally loved, sometimes, never live up to the hype the film has gathered over the years. Just like with people, a film’s reputation irrationally determines our judgement on a said film. It only takes a viewing to break — or validate — those judgements.
To properly form an opinion on something, you have to experience firsthand — reputation only goes so far.
This was my mindset going into Blue Is The Warmest Color — the coming-of-age film from 2013. Its polarizing reputation was as polarizing as any film I have experienced to date. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the French film tells the story of a romance between two female teenagers and their experiences as they grow up in a modern day France. Clocking in at just about 3 hours, the naysayers held the run-time against the film — stating it dragged and rambled on. On top of that, the film was rumored to have been incredibly difficult behind the scenes — though reports following the film’s release played down those rumors. Rounding out the negativity toward the film, many were disengaged and uncomfortable with two incredibly long and graphic sex scenes between the two lead stars. Justin Chang, writing in Variety, called the scenes “the most explosively graphic lesbian sex scenes in recent memory”.
But the praise toward the film outweighed the critics. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival — its highest award. Among other film fest awards, many film critics had the it on their top 10 lists of 2013. The films stars — Adele Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux — were universally praised for the performances.
With such a divide on this film’s perception, the interest level, for me, was incredibly high. Yet, I was still weary about watching. Sure, the performances are probably great, but it seemed to be a slow, meandering film. Now three years removed from the release, my curiosity overcame me. I gave it a go.
Adèle (played by Adele Exarchopoulos) is a bit of a loner. She loves to read and loves being in school. She has dreams about being a teacher. Adèle is a bit shy when it comes to others, but, among her friends, she can hold a conversation quite well. On a way to her — it seems to be her first — date, she passes by a incredibly alluring woman with blue hair (Léa Seydoux). After this chance run-in, Adèle becomes infatuated with the woman. She begins to question her sexuality. The two meet — Adèle learns the woman’s name is Emma — and become close friends, eventually beginning a relationship. Emma, who is an artist, is much more comfortable in her skin and toward others. The personalities of the two juxtapose each other, yet they form a strong, loving relationship. Yet the honeymoon phase does not last forever…
(NOTE: There are going to be spoilers beyond this point.)
I am incredibly glad I chose to watch this film. Without a doubt, Blue Is The Warmest Color is in the running for the best depiction of a first relationship/coming-of-age story I have watched to date. Not only is the acting out-of-this-world good, the story stays true to the characters on screen. Adéle and Emma reel you in unlike most other film characters that deal with similar issues. The message and themes are universal — despite what you may perceive when hearing about the film being a romance between two females in France. The filmmaking is incredibly French, which at times is distracting, but not enough to bring the film down.
To get the obvious out of the way: The sex scenes are just as graphic as advertised. It is basically softcore porn. In my opinion, they are unneeded. But they take up 15 minutes in an almost 3 hour movie. There is so much depth to these characters, one can — and should — easily look past those scenes.
What I enjoyed most is the writing and structure of the story. More specifcally, I enjoyed Adéle’s transformation from a teenager to an adult. The life lessons she experiences firsthand are harsh, but, ultimately, gratifying.
In most cases, when someone becomes so deeply in love with someone else — especially those with a radically different outlook on life — we see the weaker personality give way to the stronger one. Here, Adéle, the weaker personality, mostly stays true to her bigger goals and dreams. Her passion is teaching and school. Her teachers have inspired that love in her, and she believes she can give back by being one of those passionate teachers. She understands the workload and stress that will come with becoming a teacher, but she seems unphased by it. When Emma comes along, a more open-minded woman who pushes that style of thinking to others, Adéle stands her ground. She is not moved by Emma’s lifestyle, no matter how in love she is with Emma.
Despite this stance, Adéle opens up in other ways. She struggles with her sexuality throughout the film, with little help from friends or her family. All she has is Emma and her friends, who are not always there for comfort or support. It seems hardships comes from every turn in Adéle’s life. As the film goes on, she learns how to deal with these hardships in a more mature manner. Though, when it comes down to her feelings toward Emma, it takes the ultimate hardship to learn one of life’s most valuable lessons: the power of being in love. When the couple break-up, Adéle’s realizes that: male or female, being in love does always make for a successful relationship. The two physically and mentally grow apart. Both their lives demand things that force them apart. Despite Adéle being incredibly in love with Emma, the relationship fell flat and become toxic.
Living and being happy with her life, while being in love with Emma but not together, is Adéle’s toughest battle — more so than having a romance with a woman where mostly everyone she knew turned their back on her.
The film ends with Adéle in a better place after the break-up. She enjoys being a teacher, and seems as confident as ever with herself around others. She meets Emma a couple more times — years after the break-up — and the conversation is cordial and loving. Throughout the film, the story was always its strong point. Being so in love with someone that early in a person’s life is a universal feeling many can connect with Adéle. This is the ultimate coming-of-age film.
But the story only can do so much. Sure, on paper these characters can be incredibly complex and rich. But, for a film to work, the actresses must be as great. Adele Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux blow the majority of performances of this century out of the water. Both leads are incredible. Exarchopoulos amazingly gives the audience sense of the inner conflict she has with this relationship and her life in general. With ease, she gives life to the character Adéle. And Seydoux perfectly gives a sense of mystery to Emma throughout the film — which entices us and Adéle. The chemistry between the both is sensational. The highest praise one can give a performance in a film: they actually felt like real people. You rooted for Adéle to find happiness and for Emma to be that happiness.
The break-up scene is crushing, but so effective and intense. You develop strong emotional ties with both characters, and for their relationship to be over in the manner it happens is heartbreaking. (The soul-crushing scene is effective like this because we are following Adéle’s point of view, and she is the one that is most heartbroken by the ending of the relationship). It is, by far, one of the greatest film scenes I have ever watched.
For me, I do not want to harp on the negatives that much. This film is a must see for anyone that enjoys a satisfying and well tole story. Yes, the 15 minutes of graphic sex is way over the top. I did not care for the shaky, close-up shots that seemed to be about every scene. But these are minor details.
You go into a movie for the characters and the story. Blue Is The Warmest Color delivers on all those fronts. Adele Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux are perfect in this film, and, hopefully, remembered for these performances for years to come. It is an amazing work of art and film. And, luckily for you, it is streaming on Netflix — not Hulu like so many other Criterion films.
Enjoy!
