Ashvegas movie review: Blue Is the Warmest Color

There’s a lot to like about Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color.  The Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is well made and features exceptional performances from leads Adéle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, whose intense full circle romance forms the film’s crux.  A thorough look at 17-year-old Adéle coming to terms with her true self, Exarchopoulos boldly expresses the fear and inner turmoil of her character’s heterosexual friction, depths that turn the bravery of acting on her feelings toward the blue-haired, pixieish Emma (Seydoux) into personal triumph.  The subsequent relationship inspires its share of passionate sex, graphically depicted in highly erotic bedroom scenes, but also what for a while feels like a harmonious union of souls.  Losing itself slightly through an ambiguous passage of time, the overlong story doesn’t quite necessitate its three hour runtime, yet the commitment of its two stars makes their connection worth watching.

Grade: B+

Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.

Blue is the Warmest Color is currently playing at the Carolina Cinemas on Hendersonville Rd.