In American cinema, fate is often presented as a path leading to success – especially when it comes to love. People meet, fall head-over-heels for one another, experience a setback or two, then live happily ever after. In films outside of Hollywood, love stories are more realistic, and more in tune with subjective experiences of …
Simultaneously distant and distinct, unfamiliar and knowing, Blue is the Warmest Color is an emotionally raw yet mildly troublesome epic drama. This year’s winner of the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival is but two chapters in the life of its lead character, Adèle, spanning years, houses, life changes, and relationships, all of which pile up like cigarettes worn down to the nub.
In director Abdellatif Kechiche’s absorbing Blue is the Warmest Color Adele (newcomer Adèle Exarchopoulos) is a teenager whose growing pains are amplified by her attraction to women which she rightly sees as something a few of her classmates won’t be able to accept.