![]() And the latter, it seems, is why this is such a touching and beautiful portrayal of love and heartache (and why I spent at least 1/3 of the film wishing I’d worn waterproof mascara and packed a box of tissues). The intensity of their sexuality was animalistic and raw, but it aligned itself with their emotional connection, which was also raw and totally unrestrained. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they were graphic, but not to the point where I, as a straight female, ever felt uncomfortable or overwhelmed. While the sex scenes certainly are lengthy and fairly explicit, they truly weren’t as exploitative as I thought they’d be. ![]() The film spans over several years of their relationship as Adele follows her dream of becoming a teacher and Emma, a promising artist, and includes some fairly common problems and situations that both homo/heterosexuals can relate to. But when she meets Emma (Seydoux) an older and more sophisticated art student, her world opens and she finally realizes who she is and what she desires. “Blue Is The Warmest Color” tells the story of high school student Adele (Exarchopoulos) who is a little awkward, and basically indifferent to most of the things that her female peers enjoy – things such as boys and dating and talking about sex. Each and every aspect of these characters is so perfectly crafted, even down to minor details such as facial expressions or mannerisms like the incessant readjusting of a ponytail, that is virtually impossible to not get fully sucked into their passionate and moving story, and feel as though you actually know them. Seydoux and Exarchopoulos have received almost universal acclaim for their brilliant performances, and it doesn’t take long to see why. Nearly every aspect of the film was simultaneously realistic and beautiful – a seemingly difficult combination to achieve. And fortunately, that did not end up being the case. Considering the allegations from lead actresses Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos – who both stated that Kechiche was a sexist nightmare, and they’d never work with him again – along with the mere fact that the film contains such lengthy and graphic sex scenes, I couldn’t help but worry that the steamy, 3-hour film would end up being a bunch of exploitative nonsense in the guise of art. Since I have a rather bad habit of automatically disliking anything I deem sexist, I began forming an opinion on the “controversial” film and its director prior to viewing it. Sex! Homosexuals! Homosexuals having sex with each other! Oh the horror! Unsurprisingly, the not-so-gay-friendly (or lady-friendly) MPAA slapped the film with a harsh NC-17 rating and sadly, it’s even been banned from the only art house theater in Idaho – and thus, the entire state of Idaho.* And it wasn’t only straight and/or conservative folks who were angered by film’s explicit sex scenes notably, Julie Maroh, the author of the graphic novel on which the film is based, stated: “As a feminist and lesbian spectator, I cannot endorse the direction Kechiche took on these matters.” ![]() Abdellatif Kechiche’s dramatic depiction of a lesbian relationship has been surrounded by controversy for months now. ![]()
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