blue is the warmest color - Abdellatif Kechiche

The conversation with Samir at both dinner party and gallery -- where they talk about what they do, hopes and aspirations, and those questions around how sex compares with men and women, was much more more interesting than anything Emma and her friends had to say Schiele.

I agree that Kechiche ultimately going for a portrait of a simpleton, but its never as er simple as that. I found Adele more interesting.

Its not that Adele judged them -- you need confidence to perform anything like a judgement -- but that Adele learnt it, like she suddenly became aware of it and departed as soon as she could, not even hanging around to talk more to Samir. It felt like Emma was left to rot there, otoh Adele was almost born again, potential to perhaps be realized or not.

"i think she felt too insecure to judge all them artsyfartsies like that"

if that's true, whats the difference between this scene and the early garden party scene?
she felt insecure in both, but on the 2nd scene she decided to leave, giving up on trying.

i don't think Adelle was a simpleton to begin with.
for example, she read a lot in school, and although she doesn't like to analyze, she admits it opens up her imagination etc..

"but that Adele learnt it, like she suddenly became aware of it and departed as soon as she could, not even hanging around to talk more to Samir. It felt like Emma was left to rot there, otoh Adele was almost born again, potential to perhaps be realized or not."

yep

Hmm. Adele might be dull -- in large part because she's still unfurling as a person -- but the film doesn't condemn her or Emma. I never got the sense Emma is rotting in an art-damaged world.

" dull -- in large part because she's still unfurling as a person "

this is the exact reason why she is interesting.

a character without conflicts = boring

At the end of this it does seem that Adele locates herself in life again, you could say she understood the feeling she had at the garden party was one of suffocation, but I'd also read it as Adele finally losing any interest in Emma

thought you were still talking about the garden party scene here

dont agree about 'portrait of a simpleton', or if it is the case then i misjudged kechiche

btw never has spaghetti looked more erotic

more like Portrait Of a Lady

the only thing the spaghetti scenes made me feel is hunger

(i would have embed the "what do lesbians think about the sex scenes in the movie" link from youtube but i don't want this thread to digress to that territory)

Its not that Adele judged them -- you need confidence to perform anything like a judgement -- but that Adele learnt it, like she suddenly became aware of it and departed as soon as she could, not even hanging around to talk more to Samir. It felt like Emma was left to rot there, otoh Adele was almost born again, potential to perhaps be realized or not.

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, November 30, 2013 8:53 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

tbh it just sounds like you were bored by them and wanted her to leave! your read isnt there for me at all but then again the film's strength is in its observation and lack of signposting, its definitely not a 'feel this one way about this scene' movie

I think the leaving of the gallery party was Adele realizing Emma cared more for her career than anything else, and she would always be more interested in interacting with her art-world friends than her.

I don't read it that way. Emma has a girlfriend with a child. Adele cheated on her. One of the movie's logical leaps is assuming Emma, a product of this broad liberal art-damaged circle, would mind infidelity so much.

(unless, of course, the infidelity realized the fears of dating a woman who hides their relationship from her parents and coworkers)

It might be that Emma just waited for an excuse to break up with Adelle.
She flirted with her soon to be girlfriend at the party.and obviously wasn't satisfied with Adell's lack of artistic ambitions.
Also when discovering Adelle's cheating on her she didn't really listen to her reasons.of course she has the right to be angry but she could at least try to understand her.

emma was just jumping at a chance to end the relationship without being the one who gets her hands dirty. she was checking out already, its foreshadowed in one of the movie's best scenes, where they're in bed together after the garden party and emma is passive-aggressively attempting to prepare adele for life w/o her and adele senses it and just wants to cling even tighter. again, really well observed with a lot of thigns 'happening' all at once. adele's naive and when she acts out she doesn't anticipate how ruthless emma will be

^^ one of the better pillow talk scenes I've seen. Man, have I been the Emma too often.

haha same

Blue hair?

I was both

even dyed my crotch hair blue

Good to know

In the sequel Amma's girlfriend will break up with her and than emma will feel how is it to be on the same side as adelle! The fucking bitch!

tbh it just sounds like you were bored by them and wanted her to leave! your read isnt there for me at all but then again the film's strength is in its observation and lack of signposting, its definitely not a 'feel this one way about this scene' movie

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7PvtbkH0I (Hungry4Ass), Saturday, November 30, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This reminded me a bit of the ball scene in Visconti's The Leopard, where that feeling of boredom descends suddenly on Don Fabrizio. Of course he says all of this, but here the action is still cutting.

I wasn't bored by them bcz Kechiche didn't really allow you much time in their company.

finally saw this - its kind of a slog, kind of brilliant. both actresses are amazing. the sex scenes were very brave for no other reason that i felt a bit sorry that both girls were so exposed. they also almost made me LOL a few times - didnt feel they were titillated (more weirdly in awe, maybe just cos even in 2013, this seemed weirdly surprising to see at the cinema). but did feel like the sex was there just to shock too, just by being there – without those scenes this would have just been arthouse french realism, a bit like the dardennes. i know critics have said the sex scenes go on too long, but this is a film where EVERY scene is ‘too long’ (by modern hollywood standards). the sex scenes are almost a distraction from what the film is most interested in. though saying that, there was something sensual about them, and something oddly new in how the sex was presented. i never felt it was sexploitation or soft core.

its not perfect, i dont think the director has any great sense of composition or visual texture, but its brilliant for what it does with faces, principally adeles, and close-ups. the whole film is about her face and how expressive she is. and about showing her face at its absolute worst, snotty, teary, greasy, oily, right up close so you could almost see into her pores. its also got brilliant characterisation, particularly with the family setups/family history of the two girls. somewhat heavy handed, but also really tender, coming of age/sexual discovery (without any old cliches)/romance-in-adolescence story with lots of (very french) intellectual diversions (can anyone imagine a british film like this? i couldnt, though i did think of summer of love).

i dont know if i drifted off but i was a bit confused as to when adele left school to become a teacher full time.

weird reading that imdb review above - i never thought of emma as having a sense that adele didnt fit into her world, i only saw that from adele's awkwardness around that circle. i only saw emma as unwilling to listen or understand. i never saw adele as working class either - more lower middle, like when her mum says 'its nice to have a man who can work for both of you'.

i keep wondering what catherine breillat would have done with this story

Dardennes are very dry to me, so even w/out sex scenes it wouldn't have been like that.

Ws wondering whether Adele's face is up to working with the camera...really would need a re-watch.

The whole split because of these differences in worldview (one is so much more cultural/knows more) was bogus wasn't it? Plenty of couples are quite unlike one another and it works. We could write it off as the impossibility of seeing relationships from the outside but it seems like the easy way out to me.

i didnt put that down to their family histories - the family belief systems seemed to play out more in the girls' career choices than them breaking up, which i thought it was a pretty standard breakup narrative in movies - self-engrossed artist with no time for gf ignores gf so gf ends up cheating. was a bit dissapointed this wasnt explored more than just lots of shouting (even accounting for them being young). also felt like the school incident with her friends calling her a lesbian was there just to show that the film was dealing with 'issues' (not that it didnt deal with how lesbians have to worry about how theyre perceived in society, it did, but that one seemed the most blatant, and i kinda expected there to be more follow up on it - it was as though one minute she was a school girl, the next just a lover, then a teacher)

Well, again, like I said a few days ago I don't blame Emma. It's no fun to date for several years a person as slavish as Adele.

yes, she should have cited a better reason for living than just being with emma, poor girl.

have to say, i find it totally weird how heavily this is being promoted in london - theres posters for it everywhere.

poster looks best with the blue background though -
http://www.theenglishgroup.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-460x665.jpg

i also got a dardennes vibe at the very start - opening in medea res, shots of a lower middle class suburb - but as xyzzzz says, the bros are generally much drier filmmakers - this is a much more 'performed' movie, complete w/ non-diagetic sound.

the soundtrack to this was great btw - was surprised at just how global it was (i should see more kechiche, though im not sure hes a director i am going to 'like' all that much)

it was as though one minute she was a school girl, the next just a lover, then a teacher

gr8 summary of this nuanced three hour art film

the soundtrack to this was great btw - was surprised at just how global it was (i should see more kechiche, though im not sure hes a director i am going to 'like' all that much)

the way that steel drum from the scene where they first lay eyes on each other came back in the closing shot was so great

yep

http://cdn.idolator.com/assets/resources/2007/11/faces_poster.jpg

prefer this to Faces.

me too, but still

THE ACCLAIMED MOTION PICTURE

phenomenally good

i just love the idea of ppl seeing this advertised on the london underground and not knowing what its about at all and then being stuck in the cinema watching 3 hours of teen existentialism with discussions about sartre when they'd rather be watching carrie (which btw, is the best of the recent horror remakes and actually quite underrated, forget what de palma fanboys/canonical critics may like to think)

love the quotes on the faces poster - you never see critics quotes that excitable/exciting anymore - they always seem either too measured or blandly hyperbolic

well, people usually read about the movie before they go and see it..

carrie (which btw, is the best of the recent horror remakes and actually quite underrated, forget what de palma fanboys/canonical critics may like to think)

GTFO

Haven't seen this specific movie, but I feel like I have seen this general movie before, several times over, both with a straight couple as the focus and with a gay (male) couple as the focus. Is this one a big deal because they've finally gotten around to two female leads? Quality of performances aside, it's starting to feel a bit like, you know, the second Spanish woman with one leg climbing Everest sort of thing.

yeah, if it wasnt for the leads playing two lesbians, im not sure this would merit so much comment. but then, there havent been many films about two lesbians like this, so it does deserve all that comment.

xpost - carrie is great (chloe grace moretz is too pretty for the role, but she does a good enough job emoting etc)

It's cool if you think the remake's great, but don't blame the world disagreeing with you on De Palma fanboys.

i dunno this is a great movie that's worth talking about for lots of reasons besides the fact it's about two women: the way it deals with the intersections of love, sex, class, and adulthood; the performances from the two leads; the nervous, intimate cinematic style

I mean, jeez, who gets off without spanking, on a vanilla night?

"A worm crawls out of the spaghetti and says 'that was some gang bang!'"

not funny. also wrong: orgy.

"A worm crawls out of a plate of spaghetti and says 'that was some gang bang!'"
"How sweet!"
"'Sweet' may not be the word"

My attention didn’t flag, and at three hours, that’s a compliment right there. Lead performances mostly excellent--no idea if Adèle Exarchopoulos has any chance at an Academy Award, but I don’t think I saw anyone else who was better this year. (The make-up department maybe overdid her disheveledness now and again; thought of that line from Touch of Evil a couple of times, “You’re a mess, honey.”) More explicit than I expected. The first half especially had a sure hand. One excellent moment I wish the director hadn’t cut short: the kindergarten kids start nap time, and there’s a shot of Adèle in repose as their beautiful nap-time music plays. (They still have nap time in France? We had it in 1966, but it’s long gone over here.)

Same reservations as expressed by others above: some of it (the break-up scene the worst offender) is very conventional. Not sure that I read the ending correctly, but if so, I’d be interested in hearing anyone who thought the ending of Nebraska was obvious explain how the ending here isn’t doubly so. (Which can't be done without spelling it out, so never mind.)

i dont know if i drifted off but i was a bit confused as to when adele left school to become a teacher full time.

Me too! And I didn't drift once. She was talking about her dream of becoming a teacher in one scene, then she woke up the next day and she was a teacher.

It wasn't the obviousness of the ending to Nebraska that was the problem but that it felt tacked on? Not too much that happened previously pointed to it. Whereas here she was going to move on towards some kind of unknown future at some point?

I had the same interpretation of the ending as nostormo above (it's been out long enough that I probably don't need to be so careful), which would be fairly conventional, if not obvious. It was actually Morbius who called Nebraska's ending obvious the other day; I found the ending very satisfying and logical. I was fine with Blue's ending, just didn't think it was any more subtle or meaningful than Nebraska's.

Steaming on Netflix...

Pun intended?

i watched 2/3 of this today. not so interested in seeing the last 1/3 when the relationship goes south, but i loved what i saw. the close ups were great. the main things i liked were all the closeups and the fact that adele was sort of a gross slob, especially when she was eating ham at the picnic.

i got a kick out of adele in general, just her lazy vibe and hilarious facial expressions.

Aw you ruined my poem! Not cool

watched this for the first time since the theaters 5 years ago. it's the movie Burt Reynolds wants to make at the end of Boogie Nights: a compelling dramatic narrative pornography. the performances are great, but the characters are so one-dimensional, speaking boilerplate, going thru the most common relationship arc there is, punctuated by some wild sex scenes. this is a powerfully erotic movie, not powerful & erotic (like Carol). I find it amusing that it's subtitled at the end "Part 1 of 2: Life of Adele" or something, I'd like to see it but that's never going to happen... didn't everyone that worked on this movie say that Kechiche was a piece of shit?

read something about that. glad the two actresses shared the Palme with the director, the performances were amazing

Anyone see his latest? Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno. I'm guessing there's not going to be a 'Canto Due' of that either. It's a pretty good tic, though.

Thought the revive was going to be about this story:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/31/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-director-abdellatif-kechiche

:( Though honestly this is one of the least surprising ones.

yeah, and now I'm remembering by the time this movie came out in the US it was already surrounded by a miasma of misconduct

The trailer for the new Abdellatif Kechiche film looks intriguing pic.twitter.com/SzrRvz4wJZ

— Eric Allen Hatch (@ericallenhatch) June 15, 2019

This was on Film4 last night and I managed about two hours before getting bored of the camera gawping at Adele's mopey face and not so mopey arse. Which is a shame because I really liked the early part of the film and Adele Exarchopoulos' performance is amazing. The sex scenes are ludicrous but I imagine the director enjoyed them.

The whole film is a never-ending Lenny face.

Butts is the warmest color

Isn't this the chump whose much derided latest features long stretches of nothing but twerking and oral sex?

careers have been built on less

I believe his latest film is a breakthrough in the onscreen depiction of twerking, yes.

The whole film is a never-ending Lenny face.

is there a single female post itt

Probably not, how many women post on ILX still? 5?

(xp) That's exactly what I was thinking reading the inexplicably positive responses to this film itt. I do wonder if anyone's changed their mind since though.