And you only care about the answer to that question if you a) like the lead, b) like the romantic interest, and c) want to see them end up together.
The story’s intrigue rests more on “What’s going to happen between these two people?” The movie only works if you care about the answer to that question.
With relationship movies (which includes romantic comedies), there isn’t always a goal. To start, you have to understand that this is a relationship movie. So why is it that this movie, despite ignoring most of the screenwriting principles I promote on this site, still worked? That’s a great question. Poor Adele is left with an uncertain future, which she now knows will never include the love of her life. She tries her best to reconcile but Emma’s moved on. A couple of years go by and, still, Adele misses Emma. Emma kicks Adele out and Adele is completely lost. It’s a subtle feeling, but intense enough that she ends up cheating on Emma with a man (partly brought on by a suspicion that Emma may be cheating on her).Įmma finds out and the entire relationship unravels. The problem with Adele is that she can’t shake the feeling that she’s doing something wrong by being with a woman. Her relationship seems to be going well also, as she’s helping Emma (who’s an artist) get ready for a big art showing. The two immediately hit it off, spend all their time together, and start falling in love, as is on display every night with their extremely passionate love-making.Ī year passes and Adele is now out of school (teaching pre-school) getting her shit together. She needs more.Īfter an unexpected kiss with a female friend, Adele becomes obsessed with women, and finds herself at a lesbian bar one night, where she meets the mysterious older Emma, a blue-haired maven who’s as confident as Adele is timid. Adele eventually does go out with the guy and DOES have sex with him, but there’s clearly something missing from the experience. She’s a pleasant enough girl, but you get the feeling she’s uncomfortable in her surroundings (and, in many ways, her own skin).Īs is the case in most high schools, Adele’s friends are peer-pressuring her into doing things she doesn’t want to do, particularly have sex with a hot guy who’s into her. What you realize is that, along the way, you’ve been pulled into this relationship, a relationship authentically constructed and universal enough to make you see yourself in it, and in that sense, care about the fate of these two girls, even if that fate took 186 minutes to get to!ġ7 year old Adele is in high school. There was so much damn sex in this movie, that after awhile, the shock value wore off. Here’s the funny thing about what happened though. I had to see myself just how far they supposedly went, and also if I could detect any clear discomfort on the actresses’ part or see if they was forced into something they didn’t want to do. There are probably tons of more diverse French films we’ll never see because distributors know there’s no way they can do well in the ultra-competitive American marketplace.Īs far as this film, I’ll be the first to admit that the only reason I went to see it was because of the controversy behind the sex scenes.
I’m guessing there are only a handful of French genres they can market over here in the States, and “sex between young women” is one of them. Okay, so maybe it’s not EVERY French movie. Didn’t we see it as far back as Seinfeld? When the Seinfeld crew tried to go see Rochelle, Rochelle? Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, that’s EVERY SINGLE FRENCH MOVIE EVER. Hey, a French film about a young woman’s sexual awakening.
Writers: Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix (based on the comic book, “Le Bleu est une couleur chaude” by Julie Maroh) His most recent interviews imply that he realizes he may have gone too far and it may have even affected his desire to direct again. Director Abdellatif Kenhiche, who was at first defiant against his actresses and their accusations of him, has done an about-face, pretty much shutting down when asked about the controversy. The film won the prestigious Palme D’or at the Cannes film festival, and that’s when the heavy scrutiny began. And second, the actresses who played the leads are now saying that they were forced to do a lot of things sexually that they weren’t comfortable with.
First, there’s a lot of graphic lesbian sex in it (have I got your attention, guys?). Premise: A high school girl becomes involved with an older artist and the two soon find themselves falling in love.Ībout: Okay, so this movie has received a lot more publicity than your typical French import for a couple of reasons.