"Blue is the Warmest Colour" - Film Review
Blue Is the Warmest Colour is a staggering film for a multitude of reasons. The performances from lead actors Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux are the main draw and were awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This prize is usually only awarded to the director, but the jury felt the movie simply would not exist without Exarchopoulos and Seydoux. While Blue is the Warmest Colour is the movie that gave them name recognition, it thankfully proved to be just the beginning of their careers.
The director’s decision to simultaneously film the shot/reverse shot adds an element of reality to the interactions between the characters. When most movies or tv shows use the shot/reverse shot style, performances are filmed separately and the actors are forced to try to deliver the same energy and actions over and again so the two shots will work together. This style, as done in Blue is the Warmest Colour, allows the audience to feel as though they are present in the moment with the two lead characters of Adele (Exarchopoulos) and Emma (Seydoux).
The issue with the film lies with the relationship between Adele and Emma. The problem is not the chemistry between the actors, but the glorification of relationships between adults and underage children. The film goes to great lengths to ensure that the audience knows Adele is fifteen, showing her in school, having Emma continuously ask Adele how old she is when they first meet, and seeing Emma treat Adele as a child. It is a predatory relationship, one that should not be glorified. The story of Adele coming of age would not be lessened if the relationship was on equal grounds.
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Another glaring issue with the movie lies in the overabundance of sex scenes between Adele and Emma. They are gratuitous and uncomfortable, shot entirely in the male gaze. There is nothing about them that adds to the film and they seemingly only exist for the sake of showing naked women’s bodies on screen. Conservatively, it feels like a quarter of the movie is spent with the two women naked. There is one love scene that reaches 10 minutes and for what? There is no discernable reason, the audience understands that these characters have a relationship without spending the entire movie watching them have sex.
Ultimately, Blue is the Warmest Colour suffers from a lack of concern with treating its LGBT characters as actual human beings rather than sexual objects to be viewed by men for their enjoyment. It is not surprising that both of the lead actors have recently spoken out about their terrible experience working on this film with director Abdellatif Kechiche. Blue is the Warmest Colour was the first time many queer women were able to see two women in a romantic relationship in popular media. It’s a shame those characters weren’t treated with respect.
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