Abdellatif Kechiche’s searingly beautiful story of two young women falling in and out of love with each other has got the Critics all riled up. Especially the heterosexual male ones who who have been almost unanimous in declaring this movie that includes long drawn out scenes of the most explicit lesbian sex as a ‘masterpiece’. It is without doubt an outstanding and glorious piece of work, but it has its flaws, and in my book, is just less than perfect.
Adele, a highly spirited and pretty tom-boy, is in her final year at High school in a suburb of Lille and attracts the attention of a handsome schoolmate Thomas. When he asks her out on her date, she accepts, but doesn’t enjoy it enough to see him again. When he insists, she relents but is frustrated when she realises that the sex doesn’t excite her at all. What does however is just a mere glimpse of a girl with blue hair that floats by her one day, and it is love/lust at first sight.
When Adele eventually meets Emma at a Gay bar that her best guy friend has dragged her too, its obvious the attraction is mutual. Whilst she may be discovering her sexuality, Emma on the other hand an art student, older and far more worldly, is currently dating a girl called Sabine. There is no further mention of her as Adele and Emma soon become a couple : ‘out’ to Emma’s rather sophisticated parents, but still closeted to Adele’s working class family.
In bed the two girl’s differences quickly fade as virginal Adele is as abandoned and wild in her love making as her experienced partner. It is this raw and passionate intimacy that is not just the core of their relationship but also what binds them together, and is one of the reasons that there is so much of it shown here.
A year later and the two have set up home together. Emma is now an ambitious and aspiring painter, whilst Adele is totally happy being a kindergarten teacher and simply running the household. At a party to launch Emma’s new work, the house is filled with her intellectual and arty friends who Adele is meeting for the first time. It is not a good mix, especially as Emma patronises Adele in front of her peers and then devotes too much time to Lisa one of the guests. We realise then with Adele’s intense jealously, just how fragile their relationship is.
Later as Emma starts becoming more and more successful with her art and is enjoying all the privileges that brings, Adele is left on her own and feels much more isolated and depressed. Seeking solace in the arms of a (male) colleague she ‘strays’ and when Emma discovers this, throws Adele out of the house in a jealous rage decrying her ‘betrayal’. The fact the she herself had been partnered when they had met seems to have been forgotten here.
The story based on a graphic novel (of the same name) by Julie Maroh, but also on an 18 Century novel by Pierre de Marivaux called ‘La Vie De Marianne’ which in the movie book-worm Adele carries around everywhere as the favorite tome. Despite this as its source, the story is an extremely contemporary one about the highs and lows of these two young women discovering who they are. Their identities are not just defined by their sexuality but also their almost opposite personalities, and even more so, by their very different social backgrounds.
Theirs is not a unique love story by any means, but it is beautifully told and is allowed to unwind at an unhurried pace. Kechiche insists on telling this tale with his camera more often than not in tight close ups giving it a very conspicuous intimacy that had such a powerful effect. The fact that the whole piece succeeds more than most is the exceptional acting of the two leads, Léa Seydoux, who plays Emma is an experienced actor, but Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adele is a newbie. They so completed embodied their roles as if they were playing themselves. Their remarkable breathtaking performances resulted in the Jury of the Cannes Film Festival (chaired by Stephen Spielberg) setting a precedent by awarding the coveted Palme D’or not just to the Director, but also to them.
And as to the controversy around sex scenes which the NY Times found fit to devote a halfpage article to last week (written by a straight man)? To me they felt rather staged and somewhat contrived and for the most part very un-erotic. It would be a real tragedy if this rather excellent film is viewed mainly for the notoriety these rather voyeuristic scenes have garnered, because it is so much more than just that.
Abdellatif Kechiche’s searingly beautiful story of two young women falling in and out of love with each other has got the Critics all riled up. Especially the heterosexual male ones who who have been almost unanimous in declaring this movie that includes long drawn out scenes of the most explicit lesbian sex as a ‘masterpiece’. It is without doubt an outstanding and glorious piece of work, but it has its flaws, and in my book, is just less than perfect.
