In 2013, the film "Adele's Life" was first shown at the International Cannes Film Festival. At this festival, and later at others, the picture was awarded a mass of prestigious prizes. Such generosity for film critics was explained by the current topic of same-sex love, which was more than openly disclosed in this tape.
"Adel's life"
The script of the film was written on the basis of the erotic comic strip by Julie Maro, “Blue is the warmest color”.
In France, the tape came out under the name La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2, in English-speaking countries - Blue Is The Warmest Color, and in the CIS - “Adele's Life”.
With a very modest budget (4 million euros), the picture collected at the box office 5 times more, so the director (Abdelatif Keshish) does not exclude the possibility of a sequel.
The scandalous fame, as well as many awards, the tape received for the story of the everyday life of a lesbian couple with fairly frank erotic scenes. At the same time, Keshish claims that his creation is dedicated to human relationships, and not specifically to the topic of homosexuality, which serves as the backdrop in his movie.
Plot
French high school student Adele feels different from her friends. Having gone on a date with a charming guy named Tom, the girl realizes that he does not care about her. Due to the pressure of others, she is trying to have a closer relationship with him. But sex does not help young people get closer, but rather leads to separation.
To distract herself, Adele, along with her gay friend, goes to a nightclub. Here she meets a budding artist named Emma. Friendship is established between the girls, which quickly develops into a stormy passion.
After graduating from school, Adele begins to live with her lover, doing all the housework. In addition, the girl is trying to support Emma in her work, trying to adapt to her friend. Emma, on the contrary, grows cold to her soul mate and moves away from Adele, starting to flirt with another girl.
Feeling miserable, the heroine has an affair with a work colleague who has long tried to take care of her. Emma soon finds out about this and drives Adele out of the house.
Time passes, but the main character cannot forget her beloved. She is trying to establish a relationship with her, but it turns out that Emma already has a different passion, which has become her new muse.
Arriving at the exhibition of her ex-girlfriend, Adele feels superfluous there - most of their mutual acquaintances with Emma, and the artist herself, do not pay attention to her. The only exception is Samir, whom Adele met as Emma's muse. He is the only one who notices the girl’s departure and tries to catch up with her, but he runs in the wrong direction.
The problems of the picture
Although many viewers see in the film the usual story of lesbians with numerous bed scenes, the problems that affect this picture are more extensive.
First of all, the film “Adele’s Life” is a story about finding your soulmate. Throughout the picture, the heroine desperately seeks love and understanding. However, both Tom and Emma are not particularly trying to figure out the character of the girl, for them she is nothing more than a beautiful face. Only Samir is trying to understand Adele's aspirations, but the director leaves this love line open.
In his film, Abdelatif Keshish tries to show the audience that same-sex love between women is not so sublime as it is often imagined. Although women are more tender creatures, in relationships they can also be rude and inattentive. Like men, lesbians are capable of being polygamous and having romance on the side.
Another problem raised in the film “Adele’s Life” (2013) is the ability of a person to be himself, not to hide under masks. So, at first glance, Emma is a more open person. The girl boldly admits her orientation, and also does not hide from her parents that Adele is her passion.
The main character is completely different: she hides from her relatives and work colleagues a connection with Emma, and carries her feelings in herself.
However, if you take a closer look, you will notice that the behavior of each of the girls is a consequence of the environment in which they grew up. So, Emma's mother and stepfather are people of wide views. They raised the same daughter. To be herself, the artist does not need to overcome something.
With Adele, it's the other way around. Her relatives are guardians of traditional values. Having turned out to be different, the girl runs the risk of being misunderstood and losing them. For this reason, the heroine hides her essence.
The true nature of girls in their relationships is truly revealed. So, Adele is sincere, desperate and sacrificial. But Emma often behaves like a selfish hypocrite, preferring to lie to her friend than to admit that she is losing interest in her.
Project director
Among the awards won by Adele's Life (2013), Golden Palm Branch, awarded to Abdelatif Keshish in Cannes for her excellent direction and adaptation of comic books for film adaptation.
Before becoming a film director, Keshish worked in the theater, and also tried himself as an actor in various projects ("Cesar's Night", "Tea with Mint", "Vampire in Paradise"), however, without much success.
He became widely known in Europe at the beginning of the 2000s thanks to his directorial work on such films as Voltaire is to blame, Dodge, Couscous and Red Mullet and Black Venus. It is noteworthy that the scripts for all these projects Abdelatif wrote himself.
Adele Exarcopoulos as the main character
The actress, who played the main role, is called the same as her heroine, Adele.
Her childhood passed in Paris, but at first she did not think about a career in the cinema. But parents, to help the girl cope with excessive shyness, sent Adele to acting classes. Soon she made her debut in the film "Martha."
Then the girl starred in several passing tapes, and at the age of 19 she was noticed by Abdelatif Keshish and invited her to star in the film "Adele's Life".
For the role in this film, Adele Exarcopoulos won the Golden Palm Branch (becoming the youngest winner of this award), Cesar, as well as many other film awards in the United States and Britain.
Today, this young actress is one of the most sought after in France. In 2016, the film “Anarchists” appeared in international distribution with it in the lead role, and in 2017-2018. It is planned to release another 5 films with her participation.
The role of Adele in the film, the actress was a great success. Despite the fact that her partner on the set was Lea Seydoux, who at that time was a more famous and experienced actress, Exarcopoulos did not allow herself to be eclipsed. Unlike Seydoux, Adele participated in all the bed scenes of the picture, and although this was a difficult test for the girl, she withstood it with dignity.
Lea Seydoux as Emma
Like Adele, Leah decided to become an actress to fight with her complexes. However, in addition to shyness, the girl suffered from claustrophobia. Having started acting classes, Seydou was able to overcome her fears.
Her film debut took place in 2006 in the base comedy "Girls on Top: A French Kiss." After participating in this project, Lea was often invited to appear.
Starting with the picture “The Beautiful Fig Tree,” Seydoux begins to play the main characters in French films. And after participating in Inglourious Basterds, the girl often appears in Hollywood projects (Robin Hood, Midnight in Paris, Hotel Grand Budapest, Lobster, 007: Spectrum).
The role of lesbians in the film "Life Adele" is not the first in the career of an actress. Previously, she starred in the film "Farewell, my queen," where she played the maid of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, in love with her mistress.
Although Exarcopoulos overshadowed Seydou in the movie Adele's Life, Lea received the most flattering reviews about her game in this project. In addition, for the role of Emma, she was also awarded the Golden Palm Branch, becoming the third woman to be awarded this award.
Role in Laertes
The first guy Adele - a high school student Tom - was played by a novice French actor Jeremy Laertes. Before participating in La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2, he managed to star in three films (Marseille la nuit, Détour and Punk).
If in the film "Life Adele" the hero, played by Jeremy Laertes, was cast by his beloved girl, then in real life everything happened differently. Some time after the premiere, the paintings of Jeremy and Adele began to appear together at various official events. And even later, journalists were able to shoot them kissing. The lovers themselves confirm that they are meeting, but do not give any more comments.
Participation in the project of Salim Cashew
Unlike other actors in the film, Salim Qeshyush began his career in the mid-nineties.
Being from a poor Algerian family, the guy suffered a lot on the way to the spotlights.
At first, a handsome young man considered the profession of an actor to be just entertainment. However, playing in the film "Criminal Lovers", he was seriously carried away by this work.
Since 2004, Salim Cashews also begins to work in the theater. In addition, the actor begins to be invited to appear in photo shoots for glossy magazines.
In the film "Life Adele" Salim played in love with the main character of the actor Samir. Unlike other boyfriends of the girl, the hero of Salim sees her as an outstanding person and tries to maintain her aspirations. But as soon as a spark jumps between the young people, their communication is interrupted. The picture ends with Samir looking for Adele, but it is unclear whether she will find her or not.
Critics' Response to Adele's Life
Julie Marot (the author of the comic book on the basis of which the tape was shot) favorably reacted to the film version of her novel, however, she criticized bed scenes between the main characters, calling them unconvincing and too picturesque.
But the American magazine Variety considered the image of lesbian sex in the film the most passionate in the history of cinema.
The stern Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian praised the tape, assigning it 4 stars out of 5.
According to the rating of British and French film magazines, took the third place in the top ten best films shot in 2013, the film "Life Adele."
The picture was also well received on the famous sites Rotten Tomatoes (90% positive) and Metacritic (88%).
In Russia and Ukraine, eminent critics in most cases did not comment on this project. The fact is that after a successful presentation in Cannes, they waited for the arrival of Abdelatif Keshish with the film "Life Adele" at the Russian Film Festival in Moscow and Ukrainian in Odessa. However, the director ignored these invitations.
The painting "Life Adele": reviews of moviegoers
As for ordinary viewers, they also very warmly received this tape. First of all, positive feedback about her was left by representatives of non-traditional orientation, as well as people who agreed with them.
At the same time, viewers who adhere to traditional views also reacted well to the tape, which was expressed in their reviews and reviews.
Film fans noted the realism in the film regarding the relationship and the manner of shooting. At the same time, the oversaturation of the tape with erotic scenes, as well as their excessive naturalness and tightness, was criticized.
Interesting facts about the picture
- At the time of filming, Lea, at the request of the director, dyed her blond hair blue. The actress was shy about walking down the street, so she often hid her hairdo under a hat.
- The entire crew of the film “Life Adele” left the most negative reviews about working with Abdelatif Keshish, calling him a tyrannical and stingy boor, who made the actors work double shifts and on weekends, did not pay extra for processing. In an interview, actresses Lea and Adele announced that they would no longer work with him for any money.
- After the success of "Life Adele" in the newspapers, rumors spread about the non-standard orientation of the leading performers. At first, the girls did not comment on these gossip in order to draw attention to the picture. But later they were forced to make an official statement in which they denied these rumors.
- In addition to questions about the orientation of the leading performers, many viewers were interested in how they filmed Adele's Life, in particular erotic scenes between the girls. In one of the interviews, Keshish said that, in order not to embarrass the actresses during the filming of sex between their heroines, only he and the cameraman were present.
In recent years, fashion has spread to paintings of homosexuals. Adele’s Life differs from most such projects in that it has a lesbian theme as a backdrop, and human relationships are brought to the forefront. The open finale of the film, in turn, gives each viewer a chance to decide for himself how Adele’s fate will turn out.