by Duane Porter
The life of Adele. Every morning Adele comes out the door, adjusts her pants, and hurries down the street to catch the bus that takes her to school. In class they are reading from La Vie de Marianne, “Ideas take hold of me. I am a woman. I tell my story.” The passage being discussed considers the possibility of ‘love at first sight’. Adele is enchanted, she loves this book and is immersed in the life of Marianne. Wide eyed, her mouth perpetually half-open, she has an insatiable desire to experience life, particularly the life of Adele.
Between classes, the girls like to talk about boys. They are all sure that one of the senior boys, Thomas, has eyes for Adele. She pooh-poohs the idea but she is obviously intrigued. Then, one morning, Thomas sits by her on the bus. They talk about the weather. They talk about the book Adele is reading, La Vie de Marianne. And they talk about what kind of music they like. She likes all kinds, she says, except hard rock with long hair and screaming. He is a musician, he teases her saying hard rock, heavy metal, is what he plays, but then he reassures her that he doesn’t and says he’d like to play for her sometime. That way they can meet again.
Then it’s Saturday, but on her way to meet Thomas, Adele catches sight of a girl with blue hair walking with her arm around another girl. They pass in the street and their eyes meet. Adele’s world is shaken and she seems momentarily bewildered. She continues seeing Thomas. He agrees to read La Vie de Marianne, although he has never read a book on his own before. He kisses her at the movies and later, they have sex, but Adele feels lost, she cannot stop thinking about the blue-haired girl. Her confusion eventually leads her to a lesbian bar where she soon finds herself the center of unwanted attention. The blue-haired girl, her name is Emma, is there and comes to Adele’s rescue. They start seeing each other. Together on a park bench Emma sketches a portrait of Adele. Emma talks of Sartre, existence precedes essence, and the freedom to choose one’s own life. Adele says, “Sort of like Bob Marley. Almost… Their ideas are similar… Philosopher, prophet – same thing.” Emma just smiles. At school, Adele finds herself ostracized by her classmates but she goes on seeing Emma anyway, a stroll through the art gallery, a kiss in the park. They make love and for the first time sex is fulfilling for Adele.
From the very beginning, it is apparent that this will be an unequal relationship. Emma is older and more experienced in these matters. Secure in her sexuality, she is accepted in her career and at home. Adele, on the other hand, is having her first real love affair. She is voracious and, quite literally, wants to devour Emma. But, uncertain of her sexuality, she denies it to her classmates and hides it from her parents. Potentially more problematic, there is also the issue of class. They come from very different backgrounds. Emma’s parents are sophisticated and liberal, their worldview contrasts with that of Adele’s working-class family. The girls have been shaped by these differences. Around Emma’s friends, Emma seems a bit embarassed by Adele’s simple aspirations and Adele just feels out of place. As with many first loves these imbalances lead to betrayal and eventual breakup.
With Blue is the Warmest Color, Abdellatif Kechiche has essentially fashioned a ‘coming of age’ tale. One person’s story of growing up through the experience of heartbreak. He is concerned with the common ordinary things that, given the process of accretion, make it so hard to love another person. Through his attention to these particularities he achieves a kind of universality. Consequently, this is not a film about sex, nor is it a film about lesbians, it is a film about being human and being in love.
Kechiche’s original French title, La vie d’Adele, echoes the title of Adele’s favorite book, La Vie de Marianne, Pierre de Marivaux’s unfinished 18th Century romance novel. Julie Maroe’s graphic novel, Le bleu est une couleur chaude, may give Kechiche’s film it’s contemporary setting and same sex orientation, as well as it’s English title, but it is Marivaux’s 600-page study of the life of Marianne that is so much closer in spirit and technique to what is accomplished here. As Adele points out, when describing the book to Thomas, the author has accumulated page after page of detail to get ‘under the skin’ of Marianne. To similar effect, Kechiche uses a three-hour running time and relentless close-ups to get at the essence of Adele. Using an almost cinema verite style, somewhat similar to what the Dardenne brothers did with Rosetta, he follows Adele intently, never letting plot interfere with a good meal or a conversation.
As much as I appreciate the director’s style, it is the work of the two lead actresses, Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, that ultimately make this such a moving experience. They are wondrously natural, never once do they appear to be acting. Exarchopoulos in particular, with her face present in almost every shot, gives an astonishing performance, so real it almost seems an error to call it a performance. Every twitch of her mouth, every glint in her eyes, even the flush in her cheeks conveys meaning. She does so much with her face that dialogue is often unnecessary. I am tempted to compare her to Renee Maria Falconetti or Louise Brooks. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that Pandora’s Box is seen playing on a large screen in the background during Emma’s party.
Some have said it is too long, that they resent the time spent watching Adele eat spaghetti. Some are bothered by the sex scenes because they are longer and perhaps more explicit than we are used to. Some have complained that the depiction of a lesbian relationship lacks accuracy. I only know that when I got to the final shot, I was aware of having seen something very special, and I would not change a thing for fear of ruining this moment.
Consequently, this is not a film about sex, nor is it a film about lesbians, it is a film about being human and being in love.
Exactement. And I also concur that the two women carry this lengthy but engrossing film from start to finish. Congratulation Duane Porter on an extraordinary review.
Thank you, Frank, for your comment. It’s good to hear that you’re one of those that enjoyed your time spent with Adele and Emma.
Duane, an insightful summation. I heartily concur with your linking of Exarchopolous to Brooks and Faconetti; her exquisitely expressive face is the emotional heart of this film.
Thank you, Pat, for your supportive comment. Yes, it really is Adele’s face that makes this film so special.
I love long movies. I just recently re-watched the theatrical cut of Mysteries Of Lisbon (my preferred version) and was riveted for all 4 hrs and 26 min, but Blue Is The Warmest Color has no business being 179 minutes. This is just my opinion of course, but the film starts to drag after an hour or so and gets progressively more encumbered.
The sex scenes get a huge amount of attention for being graphic, but I found the bigger problem with them is the same for the rest of the film….they never end. Everything is stretched out to the breaking point. I always hear so-called movie lovers complain that films are too long these days blah blah blah. I usually dismiss such complaints as being made by people who require continuous smart phone activity in order to live. I know it must be hard for some audiences to not Twitter or Facebook for more than 30 minutes. With BITWC though, I see that argument as being quite valid. Kechiche seemingly equates length and protraction with profundity. I do think that Adele E is fabulous. Her acting is first rate.
And good luck to Ciro Immobile tomorrow against Ireland. Along with Domenico Berardi…the future.
This is such a simple narrative, girl meets girl, girl loses girl, cutting would greatly diminish its effect. The length of time spent and the proximity of the camera is really what this film is about. Thanks for your comment.
The film is erotic, intense, and features two superlative performances by Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. No film in memory has been more highly charged by graphic lesbian sex scenes. The relationship between the two women is marked by the stronger emotional and intellectual investment of one, and the unbridled passion of the other, hence ‘class’ is just as important as ‘sex’ in this doomed equation. The film is romantically intense and it puts these characters under a microscope to reveal why it is inevitable that the bond will not endure. The sensational reviews, the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the universal acclaim would seem to overstate the case, but in my view this often electrifying film has earned every one of the plaudits. I did not myself find the length of the sex scenes as narratively detrimental, but rather, they showed just how intense the sex became –what you see is a reflection of real-life engagement. And I found them fascinating in the same way I found both these lead characters’ lives. Still, I agree with what Maurizio says above about people always complaining about how long a film might be. BLUE is not guilty of this however.
In any case Duane, your Falconetti comparison is remarkably applied, but I dare say you are not far off the mark at all. When you pose that some have issues with what you identify in the final paragraph, be rest assured that is a tiny minority. By and large this film worked mightily for most and your brilliant essay leaves no point or consideration out of this equation.
Sam, I want to thank you for inviting me to participate in this countdown and to represent one of my favorite films. Your assessment of the film and its reception is exactly right. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. For every one that has a complaint, ten can be found to refute it. And, in almost every case even those that dislike the film have to concede to the brilliant performance of Adele Exarchopoulos.
Golly! Yet again in a series that has barely started, an essay about a movie that I’d intended to avoid has changed my opinion entirely. Congratulations, DP, on a super piece.
I also like the fact that there’s a proper plot summary here! Most of the reviews I’ve read so far of the movie have assumed the reader already knows what it’s about.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad to be able to change your perception of this wonderful film. I hope you will enjoy it.
Oh — and I really like the movie’s French title. I can see why it wasn’t used (in translation) by the anglophone distributors, but it still works better for moi.
Yes, “The Life of Adele – Chapters 1 and 2” says it all and suggests that she has many chapters yet to go.
I liked the length of the film – its pace, its patience, the way it lets everything play out – everything, classroom scenes, meals, conversations, flirting, sex, fights, parties, etc. Willingness to wait to see what will happen, to let things develop – I thought it worked very well. I think it’s a film about appetite, and discovery, and exploration, and the length and pace work very well at conveying it – working through everything, working them out. A very great film.
Exactly! Thanks for the comment.
Fine review Duane of a film that I like, but didn’t quite have it on my top 10 from last year. I didn’t vote for it on the countdown either, but can see how some of us would. It does capture a certain intensity and lusty, carnal side of the romantic film genre. I actually found most of the flirting between the two women to be even more sexy than the sex itself. The pacing works very well in the first half, as the tension is incredible and the flirting and courtship very erotic and hypnotic. I found the second half to be less interesting, only because it doesn’t quite sustain the intensity of the first half. So, although Maurizio says it’s too long, I say it’s more just about the pacing being more skewed toward a more ineresting first half that makes the second half a bit slow. The acting is excellent though.
Thanks, Jon. I’m glad to hear that you do like the film. As far as the pacing goes, I’ve watched it several times now and, for me, it flows perfectly. I would not change a thing.
That breakup scene was one of the most powerful I’ve ever seen or heard in a drama. Both women brought the house down. Excellent review.
Thanks, Tim. Yes, that was a great moment in the film and the performances from both actresses were among the very best of the year.