'Blue is the Warmest Color' is a remarkable but exasperating love story
Abdellatif Kechiche鈥檚 鈥淏lue is the Warmest Color,鈥� winner of the Palme d鈥橭r at Cannes, is often remarkable and often exasperating. It鈥檚 about the romance between Ad猫le (Ad猫le Exarchopoulos), whom we first meet as a shy fifteen15-year-old Lille high school student, and Emma (L茅a Seydoux), a rebellious university fine arts student whose short blonde hair is streaked with blue. With a tremulous hesitation that becomes passionately all-consuming, the women become lovers and, for a time, soul mates.
At nearly three hours, 鈥淏lue,鈥� which has some of the most explicit sex scenes ever shot for a mainstream movie, is far more attenuated than it needs to be. The longueurs pile up. Kechiche is also way too fond of big, looming close-ups. But the two actresses, seen up close or from far away, are extraordinary. The emotional trajectory of their passion is entirely believable and ultimately heartbreaking. Grade: B+ (Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.)
