695 Blue is the Warmest Color

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#126 Post by tenia » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:22 am

The comic is actually quite short.
Plus, I didn't find it so good at all. It's full of clichés and very naïve.

User avatar
dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#127 Post by dad1153 » Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:00 am

tenia wrote:The comic is actually quite short.
Plus, I didn't find it so good at all. It's full of clichés and very naïve.
I bought the graphic novel after I saw (and loved) the movie version and read it on a flight to Phoenix. I liked it fine, and personally it enhances my enjoyment of the movie precisely because the clichés in the comic are avoided and changed into more substantial/emotional context in screenplay/film form (particularly the material dealing with Adèle's parents).

Zot!
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:09 am

Re: Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)

#128 Post by Zot! » Mon Apr 07, 2014 4:38 pm

Black Hat wrote:If that was 'very vanilla' or 'just some licking and fingering' I'd love to hear what would qualify or what kind of lesbian porn you've seen as I think you two live on a different planet than I do. From a cinematic standpoint the centerpiece scene was way too long and took you out of the movie, even the very first solo scene seemed off to me. As far as explicit, they were doing a double sided dildo and yes it wasn't 'fisting' but sans thumb she had her hand all the way in there, he even added the sounds of a soaking wet vagina, good lord. I wonder if when this film is released in Japan they'll blur out their nether regions.
You have a vivid imagination, but I'm quite certain neither of these things is occuring in that scene, or is insinuated as occuring. I liked the movie, and Kechiche is a talent, but after this and Secret of the Grain, I find his impassioned take on just about EVERYTHING to be exhausting. I was reminded of George Costanza trying to combine eating pastrami and his love life, and I don't think I'll ever look at a gyro the same way again. I actually found the classroom scenes to to be a welcome reprieve from the endless wine guzzling, eating, passionate embraces and blubbering. Both leads are excellent, and I really thought Seydoux nicely transitioned from student to teacher believably.

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#129 Post by furbicide » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:37 am

So, what's happening with this extended edition? Is it still going ahead?

User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#130 Post by Drucker » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:50 am

No reason to believe it isn't. And probably makes sense that they'd want to sell as many copies of this bare-bones edition before offering out the complete package.

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#131 Post by furbicide » Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:25 am

I seem to recall reading a throwaway line in Sight & Sound or elsewhere saying something like "after rumours that he was going to recut BITWC, Kechiche has instead chosen to take on a new project". I can't remember the exact source or context apart from that, but it didn't sound good. I just wondered if anyone knew for sure that this was definitely still going ahead at some point in the future.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#132 Post by zedz » Mon Aug 25, 2014 6:45 pm

furbicide wrote:I seem to recall reading a throwaway line in Sight & Sound or elsewhere saying something like "after rumours that he was going to recut BITWC, Kechiche has instead chosen to take on a new project". I can't remember the exact source or context apart from that, but it didn't sound good. I just wondered if anyone knew for sure that this was definitely still going ahead at some point in the future.
Well over a year after its debut in France, no extended version / director's cut has emerged on French DVD or Blu, and the Cesar / BAFTA / Oscar season didn't play out as the filmmakers presumably hoped, so it looks to me like that particular window of opportunity has closed. Whether or not Criterion will follow through with their promised special edition in the absence of a new cut is an open question, but I can't imagine they're as enthusiastic about it now as they were at the beginning of the year.

The bare bones release seems to have done well, however. The DVD is currently the second best selling title under 'Foreign Films' on Amazon (behind, um, Apocalypto), though the BluRay is only #51. I wonder if that disparity is down to core Criterion and arthouse collectors holding off for the special edition and the 'general public' being more of a DVD market.

AnamorphicWidescreen
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:21 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#133 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:28 am

Saw Blue is the Warmest Color last year on the Criterion Blu, and was extremely impressed by the film - it's definitely one of the most remarkable foreign movies I've seen, and also IMHO one of the best coming of age films of all time. Even though it was three hours long, it never dragged or felt forced. This wasn't just a movie, it was a truly extraordinary experience. Superb. It helps that I really like French films, and felt the lead who played Adele was gorgeous, but not in a traditional Hollywood mainstream way...and I mean that as as compliment...

As far as to being able to relate - or not relate - to the characters...Well, as a straight guy who has absolutely no problem with seeing two women together (and I'm sure I'm not unusual in that sense), I still wasn't sure I could really identify/relate to the film prior to seeing it. I.e., I knew I would like the love scenes, etc. - however, I wasn't sure if the relationship aspect would be that interesting to me.

Well, I needn't have worried because I found the entire movie quite compelling - especially the relationship aspect, which was the focal point of the entire film. I liked how you saw the progression with Adele first noticing Emma in the park?! with her g.f. in the beginning, to the early, tentative start of the relationship, to their eventual moving in together, etc.
SpoilerShow
The sad but intense break-up scene - when Emma threw Adele out because she had cheated - was definitely one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen in a movie; the emotional pain of each character was quite palatable, and heart-breaking. Quite impressive acting here.
I also thought the last scene of the film was truly brilliant,
SpoilerShow
and surprising in the best way - i.e., the guy that Adele has met at a party years before met her again at the art gallery - and, when he went to look for her after she left the gallery/party, couldn't find her because she had walked a distance up the street...a far cry from the typical Hollywood tear-jerker - in which the guy & the girl would hook up at the end & ride off happily into the sunset...
As far as Adele's sexuality - I would have to say she was bi-sexual -
SpoilerShow
with a probable stronger attraction to women than men. However, if she had only been into women, I agree she wouldn't have cheated on Emma with a guy.
Zot! wrote:Both leads are excellent, and I really thought Seydoux nicely transitioned from student to teacher believably.
Agreed. Even though it was obvious not much "real" time had passed between the scenes when she was a student & a teacher (which IIRC was several years later), they did a great job of making her look older, i.e. with different hair, glasses, more conservative/older?! clothes, etc. This was one of the many brilliant things about a movie that was just amazing in every sense...

Note that after I saw the film, I read the comic book/graphic novel that the film was based on (English translation), and felt it was fairly average; IMHO the film was far superior....

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#134 Post by perkizitore » Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:25 pm

Any news on that special edition or should I give up hope and get the cheaper AE?

User avatar
Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#135 Post by Oedipax » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:46 pm

I don't know if much has been written about this in the English-language press, but a rather strange thing has happened with this film in France - its visa d'exploitation was revoked, meaning it more or less cannot be screened anywhere legally, roughly two years after its wide release in theaters and on DVD/blu-ray. The reason cited is the explicit nature of the sex scenes and that it had a 12-and-up rating - something Kechiche readily agreed was probably too low when interviewed about it. Presumably a new visa will be issued with a higher age limit and the film will once again be legally screenable.

Would be very curious to hear more from anyone who's more knowledgeable with the visa d'exploitation system in France. The articles I've read seem to suggest it's become politicized by far-right conservative/religious types much like has been suspected of our own MPAA.

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#136 Post by furbicide » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:21 am

How bizarre! Here's a link:

http://www.elle.fr/Loisirs/News/La-vie- ... on-3017203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems the process will only take a couple of months, though, if my understanding of the google translate is correct.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#137 Post by tenia » Tue Dec 29, 2015 2:08 pm

Promouvoir is a "morality association" close to the French far right and is using a legal loophole to get the visa revoked and have the French "MPAA" or even the French Minister of Culture have a new look at the age requirement.
They did so not long ago with Gaspar Noé's Love which went from 16yo to 18yo requirements.
The issue is that the 18yo requirement in France is quite restrictive in terms of advertising and distribution. Not as much as the NC17 but that sort of stuff.
The other issue is that Promouvoir isnt looking at getting a tighter requirement (for Blue, it would be 16yo instead of 12) but the highest one. And all its restrictions.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#138 Post by zedz » Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:17 pm

tenia wrote:Promouvoir is a "morality association" close to the French far right and is using a legal loophole to get the visa revoked and have the French "MPAA" or even the French Minister of Culture have a new look at the age requirement.
They did so not long ago with Gaspar Noé's Love which went from 16yo to 18yo requirements.
Ironic, since I don't think anybody over 18 will get that much out of Noe's film.

User avatar
Trees
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)

#139 Post by Trees » Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:17 pm

This is probably the most amusing thread I've read on this forum so far. In terms of alleged abusive behavior, to me, it doesn't really seem that out of line. He was trying to illicit a very intense performance in the
SpoilerShow
breakup
scene, for example, and they NAILED IT.

Like many others, I think 30 minutes could have easily been cut from this film. Some of the dime-store philosophy stuff about Sartre could have been cut, for example. The sex scenes I thought were extremely visceral and did their job, illustrating Adèle's sudden and complete physical obsession.

This film can by no means be ranked among the greatest film love stories of all time, like In the Mood for Love, but it does showcase one of the most stunning female acting performances in a long time, from Adèle Exarchopoulos. Yes, maybe Kechiche was a crazy bastard and a harsh taskmaster, but dammit, he helped extract and shape a world-class performance from an 18-year-old girl, and got all of them a Palm d'Ors in the process.

My hat is off to Adèle Exarchopoulos. Outstanding!

Image

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#140 Post by domino harvey » Mon May 30, 2016 1:13 am

lacritfan wrote:I had a question about the passage of time -
SpoilerShow
We know three years have past since the breakup since Emma says the child Lise was pregnant with is now three. How many years passed in between?
Finally saw this movie, it's of course amazing &c but I was initially tripped up on the same idea til I realized what she was saying was
SpoilerShow
Lisse was pregnant with her second child, so three years haven't passed since the party reception, rather the other kid is now three years old. Emma mentions the two kids later in the same convo as well
Also, some of y'all are crazy with the editing suggestions, I definitely could have watched another ten hours of this movie

User avatar
Yaanu
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:18 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#141 Post by Yaanu » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:24 pm

perkizitore wrote:Any news on that special edition or should I give up hope and get the cheaper AE?
I don't know when it happened, but it would appear that they've removed the notification promising a more meaty edition from the Criterion.com store page. So it looks like the current release is all that we're getting.

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#142 Post by furbicide » Wed Mar 01, 2017 5:19 am

I can't imagine why it would take Kechiche so long to edit and release an extended cut, and surely its moment in the sun has well and truly passed by now – a shame as I would have definitely been down with a longer cut or at least a DVD with deleted scenes, and I wonder if Criterion would have rushed out such a barebones edition if they hadn't thought a director's cut was on the way. Would like to hear a categorical statement that he's no longer doing it, but otherwise we can only presume that ship has sailed.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#143 Post by tenia » Wed Mar 01, 2017 5:23 am

It already took him long enough to finalise the current cut.

User avatar
djproject
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 3:41 pm
Location: Framingham, MA
Contact:

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#144 Post by djproject » Wed Mar 01, 2017 8:27 am

The upshot of all of this is at least the price is decent =].

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#145 Post by tenia » Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:43 am

It's unfortunate though. All the releases around the world are quite light regarding the extra features. I hoped that the Criterion SE would thus be the way to get a bit more stuff there but sadly, it most likely never will materialise.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#146 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:51 am

While this film is wonderful, the director is just the worst
“I do not need [former Cannes president] Gilles Jacob’s blessing when I make a decision,” says Kechiche. “I would rather think it is for him to explain the meaning of this secret ceremony he organized to award the two actresses with two other Palmes d’Or, declaring that they were 'in a small way also the directors of the film,' even though they had publicly insulted me. Does he really think that a director can accept such a disparagement? Why was I not invited to this ceremony? It is very strange. Is it possible to have three Palmes for one film? Who decreed this new rule and on the strength of what? Can one go around giving Palmes on a whim just because one presides over a festival? In that case, why did the Dardenne brothers get only one Palme? Why is this the only film in 70 years to receive three Palmes? What is the real meaning of this triple Palme d’Or? For me, liberating myself from this Palme d’Or is a way of washing my hands of this sorry affair."

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#147 Post by tenia » Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:54 am

Oh yeah, Kechiche is said to be awful since years. I remember reading things about his behaviour years ago, around Venus noire. He’s said to be awfully behaving on set, but also to be extremely difficult to deal with around editing time.

Zot!
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:09 am

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#148 Post by Zot! » Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:59 am

No surprise, with the amount of realistic arguing in his films, he's probably a hysterical mess himself. I admire his dedication to his art, but yeah, not a exactly a sweetheart.

jojo
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:47 pm

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#149 Post by jojo » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:27 pm

His behaviour is probably something we're going to hear about every time a new movie of his is released. I haven't read anything about him that has crossed that invisible line I have in my mind about what is "completely unacceptable behaviour" yet, but part of me keeps wondering when the day will come when he does. As it stands, he's worse than most by modern standards but still a ways from "Klaus Kinski unacceptable."

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#150 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:52 pm

tenia wrote:Oh yeah, Kechiche is said to be awful since years. I remember reading things about his behaviour years ago, around Venus noire. He’s said to be awfully behaving on set, but also to be extremely difficult to deal with around editing time.
Might explain why this film was so unbearably bloated

Post Reply