By: Sarybel Meléndez and Teige Dougherty
French movies often entail a lot of personal exploration and growth of characters. This movie is no different. It does this through a series of incredibly long winded conversations, which reveal intricate details about the characters. Even though this enriches the movie, it is not done with precision that most people crave from this kind of movie. Some conversations were included which seemed to have no relevance to the storyline.
The part that this movie did phenomenally was to create an illustration of the life of a girl, without actually having the important moments. There is no one moment of progression, but rather the entire film seems to be indicative of the growth of a student into an adult. The main character grew up right before the viewer’s eyes, with little time to come to terms with what has happened. This feels realistic, because there is a sense the character is in the same boat too. She doesn't know how to handle what has been happening and this, in turn, adds more to the idea that the main character’s life is like a runaway freight train. Then later, when society rejects her in some ways because of her sexuality, it hurts the viewer too. The film’s adaptation of what life is like for Adéle makes this societal rejection feel realistic in a way. Depicting precisely what it most likely feels like to be cast out in the same way.
The movie focuses on Adéle’s development more than any other character’s. Adéle loses herself while exploring her sexuality and dealing with people’s opinions and judgements. She loses her friends, and gives up the fake image she always showed everyone. She seems to find herself when she meets Emma and realizes she’s the one Adéle truly loves. Emma makes Adéle grow up and mature as a person. They explore their sexuality together and their relationship becomes more intense over time. Right when she thinks she is complete, her mistakes affect her relationship with Emma. Although their love is very strong and intense, they let the arguments and mistakes interfere and end what they have. The movie ends just how it started. Adéle remains lost and confused.
The acting in this movie is amazing. It seems realistic and gives a fake image of these two characters being in love. The movie has a lot of unnecessary dialogue, but their face expressions say and mean more than the words they say. There is a huge difference between the intensity of the sex scenes of Adéle and Thomas and the ones of Adéle and Emma. Adéle’s facial expressions change whenever she’s with Emma. In the beginning of the movie, when she is having moments of intimacy with Thomas, her serious and confused facial expressions let us know that she isn’t enjoying her experience with him. Her eyes reveal how unhappy she is with hiding herself and her feelings. When she’s with Emma, her body language and facial expressions totally change. There is a smile on her face most of the time. Her eyes are bright and she looks a lot more comfortable and happy. During their fight scene, they yell and push each other with such intensity that the viewer feels like he/she’s in the argument with them.
Another thing that this movie does well is creating an emotion through the use of music. There isn’t much music in the movie so whenever a song is played, everyone pays close attention. It yields this impressive return of unadulterated happiness or sadness in some cases. This greatly complimented the acting of the stunning actors and actresses.
Through all of the teenage angst and troublesome youth misinterpretations of what she wants, the story evolves and challenges the viewer to a wider experience. It brings on emotions which accumulate and grow with the characters.
Citations:
Dunn, Sarah. "Blue Is the Warmest Colour." U Blush Magazine. N.p., 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. <http://ublushmagazine.com/blue-is-the-warmest-colour/>.
Jagernauth, Kevin. "Blue Is The Warmest Colour." The Playlist. N.p., 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. <http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-lea-seydoux-felt-like-a-prostitute-director-says-sex-scenes-didnt-go-far-enough-20131007>.
Through all of the teenage angst and troublesome youth misinterpretations of what she wants, the story evolves and challenges the viewer to a wider experience. It brings on emotions which accumulate and grow with the characters.
Citations:
Dunn, Sarah. "Blue Is the Warmest Colour." U Blush Magazine. N.p., 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. <http://ublushmagazine.com/blue-is-the-warmest-colour/>.
Jagernauth, Kevin. "Blue Is The Warmest Colour." The Playlist. N.p., 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. <http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-lea-seydoux-felt-like-a-prostitute-director-says-sex-scenes-didnt-go-far-enough-20131007>.