Review: ‘Blue Is The Warmest Colour’

Winner of the 2013 Palme d’Or, Blue is The Warmest Color is a minutely detailed and brazenly original study of first love. While nothing about its storyline is wholly original, the way it is presented onscreen is so extraordinary that many critics have mourned its three hour length – they could have watched for far longer.

Loosely based on a graphic novel by Julie Maroh, the film follows Adele, a young girl whose hunger for life, knowledge, and experiences is vividly shown by the voracious way she reads and the way she tears into her father’s spaghetti at dinner. She starts the film as a precocious high-schooler and finishes the film as a grown woman, albeit one who still has a lot to learn.

Adele is fifteen when she realises she’s not happy with the guys she’s dating. She can’t get the girl with the blue hair out of her head, despite the fact their sole encounter was fleeting. When they meet again, love blossoms quickly and leads to the steamy sex scenes that have made the film so controversial. While the older and more sophisticated Emma accepts her new sexual identity gladly, Adele never fully gives into it. She keeps it a secret, even when the pair are living together years later.

The performances in this film are stunning. Raw emotion spills from the screen, and the fragility of the girls’ situation is palpable in every scene. Director Kechiche manages to create a believable world for this relationship to exist in, with each of the two girls engaging with a wide group of friends, teachers and family. This bustling background makes the moments when the girls are alone, behind closed doors, all the more striking.

Bold and beautiful, Blue Is The Warmest Color is both a touching love story, and one of the best coming-of-age films of our time. Just go see it!

8.5/10

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