Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Blue Is the Warmest Colour is a 2013 romantic drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film follows Adèle (Exarchopoulos), a French teenager, who discovers desire and freedom when Emma (Seydoux), an aspiring painter, enters her life. It depicts their relationship from Adèle's high school years to her early adult life and career as a schoolteacher. The film's premise is based on the 2010 graphic novel of the same name by Jul Maroh. Production began in March 2012 and lasted five months. Approximately 800 hours of footage were shot, including extensive B-roll footage, with Kechiche trimming the final cut to 180 minutes. The film generated controversy, much of it about allegations by the crew and lead actresses of poor working conditions on set and the film's raw depiction of sexuality. At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the film unanimously won the Palme d'Or from the official jury and the FIPRESCI Prize. It is the first film to have the Palme d'Or awarded to both the director and the lead actresses, with Seydoux and Exarchopoulos joining Jane Campion (The Piano) and later Julia Ducournau (Titane) as the only women to have won the award. It received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language. Many critics declared it one of the best films of 2013. Plot Adèle is an introverted 15-year-old high-school student. She passes an older woman with short blue hair in the streets one day and is instantly attracted. She sleeps with Thomas, a boy from school, but is ultimately dissatisfied and ends their relationship. After having vivid fantasies about the blue-haired woman while masturbating and kissing Béatrice, one of her female friends, Adèle becomes troubled about her sexual identity. Béatrice says she does not want to proceed further and tells Adèle to forget the kiss.