Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Uncompromising, visceral; difficult to watch: these are all terms that could apply to this astonishing and brutal film. And it's supposed to be a romance. It was hard to know what to expect from Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue is the Warmest Colour. Its glory at Cannes, where it won the coveted Palme d'Or, was marred by the fallout of its cast and crew. Lead actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos claimed in interviews that their experiences on set had been unbearable, alleging that Kechiche had forced them to shoot the famously explicit sex scenes for hours on end. Despite being called to the stage to share the award with their director at Cannes - a tribute to their towering performances - these accusations have cast a shadow over the film's mainstream distribution.

And this is such a terrible pity. Because Blue is the Warmest Colour really does deserve every accolade that comes its way. It is, at heart, a character study: the French title (La Vie d' Adèle Chapitres 1 & 2) more accurately reflects its focus on Exarchopoulos' Adèle  whose life we track from teenage sexual awakening to the inevitable loss that comes with maturity. This awakening comes in the form of Emma (Seydoux), an art student whose bright blue crop becomes the locus of the title's symbolism. When Emma stops dyeing her hair, we know it's bad news for their relationship. 

Yet in the interval, Kechiche and his two actresses manage to create one of the most intense and convincingly rendered on-screen couples in recent cinema. The way the film is shot has a lot to do with its power: the camera lingers on details - faces, clothing, food - consuming its objects with the same greed we see in Adèle. She is voracious, constantly eating huge bowls of spaghetti; whereas Emma is more refined, preferring oysters. There is a class dynamic in play here but its consequences are perhaps unexpected. Whilst Emma becomes increasingly absorbed in herself and her art, Adele seems to grow into a new maturity, acquiring an understanding of the world she inhabits that eludes her erudite lover.

Adèle Exarchopoulos is simply extraordinary in this role. She is in almost every frame of a film that runs for three hours and gives the performance everything: never have blood, sweat and tears been so literally translated onto the screen. It would be a huge oversight if she doesn't get a golden statue out of this as she makes the efforts of other possible contenders look feeble and staged. Seydoux is equally captivating, playing Emma with the egotistical edge that is both alluring and slightly chilling. A lot of fuss has been made about the sex scenes but, although undoubtedly frank and lengthy, they don't dominate the narrative, which is at its best when dealing with emotional discord: the fight scene and the attempt at reunion.

Blue is the Warmest Colour is exhausting in the best possible way. It demands a lot of its characters and its viewers but it is this refusal to let up that makes it so rewarding. Regardless of the post-production controversy, this is a stunning and shocking account of first, perhaps last, love in all its angry, messy complexity.