La Vie d'Adèle (2013)

 Je m’en allais avec un cœur à qui il manquait 

quelque chose, et qui ne savait pas ce que c’était.

La Vie d'Adèle (Blue is the Warmest Color) is one of the most beautiful, passionate, melancholic and heartbreaking films I've seen in a while. Without a doubt one of my favorite films from 2013. I love its realistic photography and the main character (amazingly and bravely portrayed by the stunning Adèle Exarchopoulos). I felt everything that girl went through. This story is like a journey, a  great coming of age drama. The story of how Adèle searches her own identity and becomes a woman thanks to her relation with another woman, her first big love: Emma (Léa Seydoux, one of my favorite actresses since I saw her in La Belle Personne).

One of the things that stayed with me from this film, besides a lot of emotions, it's how its director, Abdellatif Kechiche chose a place to reflect the passing of time and the changes on the love story, the bench in the park: 

And there is this other brilliant moment, one of the highlights for me, when Adèle dances with joy to The Magician's remix of Lykke Li's I follow rivers, one of my favorite songs. She embodies happiness:

There is a reason for why this film feels so natural: a good portion of the B-roll footage with Exarchopoulos that ended up being used are in fact of the actress when she was out of character. The camera would be on her when she ate and even when she slept on the train while they were on their way to set. Since during this footage people kept calling Exarchopoulos the name Adèle instead of Clementine, they agreed to have the main character's name changed to Adèle. Clementine is the name of the heroine of the graphic novel by Julie Maroh, Le bleu est une couleur chaude (2010), that Kechiche has freely adapted.

(Adèle Exarchopoulos promoting the film)

“It’s just like a passion. It’s just when you love just a person. Not a guy or girl… I don’t know. I can’t express this because it’s hard like to put words on feelings like this when they are so strong but I hope that it will change maybe some mentality and like people can recognize themselves, that it’s really important and it’s the best proud you can have when someone tells you “I recognize myself” or “it makes me think about my story or this story”. — Adèle Exarchopoulos on La vie d'Adèle. 

You can read my complete review of the film (only in Spanish) clicking here:  

Abdellatif Kechiche - La vida de Adèle (2013)

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. 

(Seydoux, Kechiche and Exarchopoulos with the Palme d'Or)

Since their winning last May, Exarchopoulos and Seydoux have become an item (tumblr adores them as much as we do), and they've been featured in loads of fashion (they're the face of the Miu Miu Resort 2014) and cinema magazines and everywhere around the internet. So here there is some Adèle & Léa appreciation: 

Last Night (2010)

Joanna: Tell me something that counts.

Alex: It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. 

Joanna: I meant something personal. 

Alex: That is something very personal.

Truman: But she is married. 

Alex: I know. 

Truman: No, you don't, you've never been married. 

Fuck the vows, it's the years you can't undo. 

Alex: Were you thinking about me?

Joanna: I always think about you when things aren't going well.

Joanna: You really touch me whenever you feel like it, don't you?

Alex: No, I don't. I touch you a fraction of how often I feel like it.

 Joanna: Why did you stop e-mailing me? 

Alex: Because it wasn't enough.

In the middle of most nights, when I can't sleep I still replay you.

Being honest with you, this is not really about the whole film but about the relationship between two characters: Joanna (Keira Knightley) and Alex (Guillaume Canet). The film tells the story of a married young couple in New York, Joanna and Michael (Sam Worthington), who are not at their best moment because Joanna sees that Michael has a little interest in his work colleague, Laura (Eva Mendes). While Michael is away with Laura on a business trip, Joanna runs into an old but never quite forgotten love, Alex. And that relation is the thing that made me fell in love with this film. Not with the entire film, 'cause actually the other relationship is completely boring, but with the beautiful and emotional relation between Joanna and Alex, which makes the film worth viewing. Keira Knightley is the perfect Joanna, with her lovely accent, and her fragile and elegant looks. And she has an amazing chemistry with the great Guillaume Canet. The way they look at each other, their gestures when they are together, makes their relation look so realistic that you can feel they've known each other for quite a long time and besides now she's married to another man and he's living in Paris with another woman, you know that deep in their hearts they're connected to each other, and they're still in love. I find their story is really well-written and it has memorable moments that I find really inspirational. 

Besides that, the film is beautifully shot in all blue and grey colors, the settings are awesome (love the minimalist apartment and New York is one of my favorite cities) and you can really feel the mood of the story thanks to its great soundtrack by Clint Mansell, you can listen to it here, featuring some of my favorite artists: Bat for Lashes, Calexico, Iron &Wine, Explosions in the Sky, M83, Moby, and South.