Blue Is The Warmest Colour is a daunting film. It’s about three hours long, features uncomfortably long and extremely realistic sex scenes and an honest emotional intensity that will leave you feeling raw. But director Abdellatif Kechiche does a brilliant job in captivating the audience from start to finish. The film was awarded the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the Palme d’Or, an honour that was well earned.
The initial focus of the film is on Adèle, a teenage girl who finds herself attracted to a woman with blue hair, Emma. She eventually loses hold of her heterosexual life and her friends in pursuit of Emma’s affection. However, the story never concerns itself with the usual coming-out plot that often dominates LGBT-stories on screen.
From this point it follows the course of Adèle’s adult life as it intertwines with Emma’s over an unspecified number of years. The chemistry is palpable. The acting is superb. Their romance never feels like it’s anything less than sincere. Kechiche never shies away from capturing every messy moment, whether it’s snot and tears running down Adele’s face or sweaty sex scenes from start to literal finish.
Unsurprisingly, this film has stirred controversy for its portrayal of lesbian sex. Some see this as an achievement. To have a graphic love scene between two women is rare, so is showing female pleasure — sex in film is typically limited to a heterosexual man’s pleasure.
Others view these moments as essentially pornographic, exploiting female homosexual relationships for male viewers. I viewed it as the former, but I’d highly recommend seeing it for yourself to decide. Blue Is The Warmest Colour is easily one of the best films I’ve ever seen.