Not only should 2013’s Blue Is The Warmest Color been nominated for a 2013 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but if you are judging by all of the standards on how the Academy usually selects its films, I think that it also should have been one of the nominations for Best Picture that year. Despite some lousy press associated after the release of this film, which I will discuss in this review, this movie might be the honest and most real movie of the year. This is a film that most people have never seen, and most people will never see. You are not alone if you have never heard of this movie. It amassed just $2.2 million domestically, and its NC-17 rating kept it out of most theaters. However, this movie is just as, if not more important, as 2012’s Amor (like Blue Is The Warmest Color, also French), which earned a spot as one of the best nine movies of that less-than-spectacular year.

Being a movie buff who tries to see everything, I had heard time and time again that Blue Is The Warmest Color had me on my 2013 must-see list. However, before viewing this movie, I knew nothing more about this film. Part of that reason is that this movie would never be listed when I researched movies playing in my local cinemas. So I knew that when I saw this movie, I would watch it at home. Although the film eventually did arrive via Netflix; I was thoroughly displeased to learn two things. Surprise number one was that the movie was three hours and seven minutes long. Surprise number two came just a few minutes later when I learned that it was a foreign language film and that I would be reading subtitles for the very, very long foreseeable future. However, like most great foreign language films, it isn’t long before you forget that you are even reading what they say on the screen in French. And like most, but not all, great movies, the length becomes negligible the further you get into the story.

As previously mentioned, I believe this is the most honest movie of the year. I may have said that recently about the movie Enough Said, but I’ve seen Blue Is The Warmest Color since then. And at one point, I did have Enough Said in my Top 10 of 2013. It has since fallen slightly, but it’s still a Top 15 movie, and if I had to compare the two in terms of the better overall movie, I would lean towards Blue Is The Warmest Color. In this review, I’m only going to discuss characters in depth. I’ll reference a couple of others, but in all honesty, those characters are not important. Those characters serve their purpose, but only in how it relates to the relationship between Adele (Abdel Kechiche – I Used to Be Darker in one of the top five breakout performances of the year) and Emma (the more established Léa Seydoux – Midnight in Paris, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol). This is a love story between two women. Emma is some 5-6 years older than Adele (she’s stated as being in her fourth year of post-secondary studies) and completely comfortable with her sexuality. Meanwhile, Adele is a high school junior confused about her sexuality. So those two dynamics right there are enough, I think, to tell a great story. As you get older, most of us would agree that a 5-6 years difference in a relationship isn’t a huge deal. But when one person is, say, 22 and the other is 17, that’s a massive deal. Individuals at those two ages are a lifetime apart in terms of experience. Also, you have the older individual who knows she is a lesbian as the person in the control position discovering all kinds of things about herself.

To set the story up some, Adele is, from all accounts, a virgin at the start of the movie. And I say from all accounts because director Abdel Kechiche (Venus Noire) was (purposefully?) vague about quite a few things. One of these included whether Adele had been with a man before. Another was if she had feelings for women her entire life or if they only came to life after the sexual experience she had with Thomas (a senior at her school who was really into her and slept with her once) left her sexually satisfied but emotionally detached afterward. Another part of the movie is the time gaps during some of the story. I’ll discuss a couple of those in a moment. But back to the plot…After breaking things off with Thomas (and honestly feeling horrible about it), Adele has a chance to kiss a girl from her school. She finds that she likes it, and this act causes her to pursue this girl further. But her classmate who did kiss her makes it clear that it was just a one-time act and that she doesn’t want to have a relationship with Adele. Nonetheless, the pot is stirred because that one kiss brought new feelings and sensations to her that she didn’t have when she was intimate with Thomas.

So, to discover herself further, Adele goes out one night with her gay guy friend Valentin to a gay bar. And while she is initially uncomfortable, she quickly realizes that many other people out there are outwardly gay and, seemingly, very content about being open about it. Her night further leads her to a lesbian bar where she sees the blue-haired woman she had seen once before but hadn’t had a chance to speak to. The two become acquainted and quickly strike up a relationship. In one continuous ten-minute scene, Kechiche shows the most passionate and appetite-driven sex scene I have seen on screen for many years. It is filled with pure passion. Each time you think the scene has reached its peak, it keeps going. Quickly you realize that individuals are in complete and total lust with each other. Even though two women are on the screen, those who are straight and those who are gay can wonder if we’ve ever had an encounter as wild and sensual as the one between Adele and Emma. I bet many of us have not. That is how crazy this scene is. Neither of these women would ever fall into a “boring lover.” More will be discussed about this scene in a moment. If it is discussed now, it will take away from the review of the movie.

In any case, the two become a couple. And, not to be unexpected, they act completely different depending on the crowd they are around. In front of the outwardly gay Emma’s friends and family, they can be as carefree and honest as they would like to be about their relationship. But in front of Adele’s family and friends, they are required to put on a front, as Adele’s parents believe Emma is no more than a friend helping tutor her in Philosophy class. Adele has yet to come out of the closet to her family, even though she has been with Emma for what we believe is over a year. This is the first issue the pair must resolve as a couple. I suspect that Emma believes they cannot be honest with each other until they are honest about their relationship with those they care most about. I believe this is not unique to a homosexual couple. I believe that all couples need to be truly honest about a relationship. Corridors filled with secrets will only come back and haunt you in the end.

The second issue the pair must resolve is the age difference. I stated earlier there isn’t much difference between a 57-year-old dating a 52-year-old, but there is a big difference between a 22 dating a 17-year-old. This also is not unique to a homosexual relationship. I believe the college years are the most impressionable years of our lives, followed closely by our high school years. There is a lifetime of difference between 17 and 22 for most people. I don’t think it’s healthy for any 22-year-old to be dating a 17-year-old. To each his own, but the maturity level, among other things, between the two age groups is completely different. The trust level is completely different. The handle on life is completely different. This is presented to us firsthand when Emma is talking to a former lover at a party, and Adele becomes jealous about it for no reason other than the fact that she is more insecure in the relationship and hasn’t reached the trust level that Emma has with her. And becomes Adele doesn’t know how to deal with it (i.e. she hasn’t reached that level of maturity yet), so she acts out. This presents issue three, which isn’t unique to a homosexual couple. I won’t discuss exactly what because it will ruin the movie for you (in case I have failed to do so thus far). But we can classify issue number three as simply “trust in a relationship.” Issue four, which is also not unique to a homosexual couple, is being completely lost in another person, meaning that you forget how to function when they are not around.

Kechiche and Seydoux should have been nominated for Academy Awards (Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively). I realize to add someone, you need to take someone away. So I’d switch Kechiche for Amy Adams (American Hustle), and Seydoux for Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), and these would be EASY switches. The pleasures and pains that each of these young actresses displays on their faces, sleeves, actions, and dialogue are out of this world at times. Never do you feel like this could not be a real relationship. Relationships are hard work, and what one individual believes to be the smallest non-issue could be the biggest issue to another. Sometimes, this little difference becomes magnified when there is a breakdown in communication or, worse, no communication about it. There are times when we root for Adele’s happiness. There are times when we root for Emma’s happiness. There are times when we just know that it will work out for them and times when knowing that it will not work out for them. Kechiche is particularly awesome. She can scan eyes, and her mouth could have even the likes of Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady, Doubt) taking cues for her next movie. That’s how good Kechiche is. Her ability to put on the face she needs to put on for work one minute and then completely break down almost to the point of non-existence the next is a gift. This 17-year-old girl is lost, no matter what she might look like on the exterior. And, frankly, Seydoux is just as great.

Character Chemistry 10/10
Acting 10/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing  10/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 8/10 (it is long and doesn’t do the greatest job of hauling you in early…you just need to remind yourself of all of the praise this movie received…that praise is warranted…give it a chance to win you over)
Universal Relevance 9/10
93%

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