Blue Is the Warmest Color

I hadn't heard of this before I saw it on the telly yesterday. Definitely came as a surprise, how good it was. Got sucked right into it even when it was half-in. Incredible acting all-over. Re-watched it in full today, and I can say with confidence that this is one of the best foreign films I've ever seen.

Although I would point out that the character of Adele is sposed to be 17 at the start of the film not 15, we see her have her 18th birthday during it. I don't think it helped the film that it was promoted in a somewhat more salacious way in the UK/US with changes like that in the promo material and the name itself, it might be catchier but I'd say less descriptive. I didn't actually bother watching it for over a year after release thinking it was going to be throwaway erotica ala 50 Shades.

Really though I actually view it as the apex of the for the want of a better label "neo neo realism", films like say Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days. That focus on closeup heavy drama with realistic dialog and a lot of performance gotten across by subtle facial expressions.

I think what this film has in its favour is that it takes that basic style and expands it beyond the very everyday "kitchen sink" approach. A lot of such films work via building up tension and never full resolving it but Blue is the Warmst Colour(or The Life of Adele parts 1 & 2 to stick with the original ttile) actually has catharsis as well resolving its tension whilst still keeping the same sense of realism IMHO.

I believe the director actually tried to change both characters names to those of the actresses to get them deeper into the roles but Lea Seyduex wouldn't have it wanting more distance. That Exarchopoulos is as good as she is as a relatively unknown 19 year old does seem like its partly down to the degree of commitment to the role, maybe something that you would only actually get from someone that young and inexperienced.