Blue Is the Warmest Colour

This is a film that demands and justifies very close attention for the whole of its three-hour duration, and it left me emotionally drained. The performances of the two leads, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adèle, and Léa Seydoux as Emma, are astonishing. The film follows very closely Adèle's life from schoolgirl to the beginning of her adult life well engaged on her career as a teacher. What impresses is how all the forces and influences to which she is subject are scrupulously and thoughtfully marshalled into a credible person's story. The main event is her first serious emotional engagement (aka 'love affair') which, as is so often the case, ended painfully for her. At the end of the film she is a wiser, more thoughtful, and slightly scarred woman.

Many of the elements that will form Adèle as an adult are here in this film, thoughtfully and subtly present - family, class, sex, peer pressure, ambitions and professional demands. Much work and thought went into this screenplay, and it easily justifies its long duration. The film was directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, who also adapted it from the source graphic novel. The transformation of Adèle from puppyish teenager to confident professional in the course of the film is gradual and astonishing.

Many discussions of this film are really discussions of the sex scenes. Being located in the UK, I expected this because I know how taboo mention of sex is here in polite conversation. The only rule is - if one must mention sex don't confess to being interested in the sex or enjoying it. I have heard no discussions of the pasta-eating scenes (there are three!) One should not go to this film on an empty stomach!

Much of the cinematography is hand-held, with Adèle being on screen for nearly all of the time with a camera not much more than about nine inches from her. This is not normally my preferred filming method, but I was happy with it here. Blue is a unifying motif throughout the film.