Three hours later and I think this was an afternoon very well spent.
Blue Is the Warmest Color is one of those films that leads you in with a perverse expectation but brings you out with the exciting realization that you may have honestly learned something important.
True, this film is rated NC-17.
But (and I'm not saying it wasn't explicit) at no point did I feel the extensive sex sequences were overly gratuitous. In fact, quite the opposite. The sex in this film plays a secondary role to the emotional journey of Adele... and only exists for the purpose of absolute honesty. I think that is remarkable. To walk in expecting sex and to walk out with a better understanding of the human condition.
What I think impressed me the most was the subtly evocative way in which many of the scenes of this film would emotionally turn on a dime. Yet it was always inherent in the writing and acting... At no point did I feel confused or disillusioned with the emotional choices.
Adèle Exarchopoulos was incredible in the leading role. She had an impeccable way of always being honest to her audience. Likewise, Léa Seydoux did a beautiful job portraying a life-loving, free-wheeling artist. What the two of them share on screen is unparalleled in legitimate filmmaking and perhaps that is what makes the choice of using real sex feel so complexly correct. Certainly this is not a film for prudish types, but then, why are we allowed to see someone's head getting blown off if we're seventeen (with an R rating) when a movie like this which is simply about the way people are in loving relationships is forced into the annals of NC-17?
Abdellatif Kechiche did a wonderful job of bringing this vision to the big screen and now I believe I have to go back and discover all of his older works.
If you like good movies, you have to give this one a shot. After all, it only won the Palme d'Or.
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