Blue Is the Warmest Color

2013 romantic drama

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A young girl becomes smitten by an older girl with blue hair.

Even though this is critically acclaimed, I put off watching this because it's so long. If I knew that half of the three-hour running time was going to be taken up with fiery lesbian sex scenes, I probably would have watched it a lot earlier. Maybe even twice.

This film's praised for its realism, and it definitely has that. Director Abdellatif Kechiche reportedly ended up with over 800 hours of footage after filming was completed. Some scenes had an absurd amount of takes, including the scene where the two central characters first met which took a hundred takes. Kechiche was apparently so unpleasant to work with that both lead actresses say they'll never work with him again. Half of me wonders if the amount of footage got so out of hand because the guy just couldn't stop filming Adele Exarchopoulos's rear end or wanted hours of scenes with Exarchopoulos and future Bond girl Lea Seydoux getting it on for his spank bank. But you can't question that he did get that realism he was looking for. Exarchopoulos is in every single scene, and more often than not, she's shown in close-ups. So is Seydoux for that matter. It makes the whole thing intensely personal, almost like you're part of the air and about to be breathed into these characters' nostrils at any moment instead of just a guy watching this without pants in his house. You could argue that some of the scenes in this go on for too long, but you'd also then be forced to argue that some moments in your life probably go on for too long as well.

Surprisingly, I was really able to connect with this French girl in this coming-of-age genre. It's probably because we get to know her and her relationship and her rear end so intimately. In the closing credits, this was called a part (or chapter?) 1 and 2, maybe leading you to believe there would be future episodes in Adele's romantic escapades. That doesn't seem very likely unfortunately.

Oh, and kudos to the kid who's going to town in his nose during one scene. 800 hours of footage, Kechiche, and you have to use the one where the kid is vigorously picking his nose?

There was also a Louise Brooks spotting in this.

Lots of blue in this wasn't surprising at all. There's also a lot of food, including close-ups of people eating spaghetti in three different scenes, that made me wonder whether there was food symbolism here.