695 Blue is the Warmest Color

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silencio79
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#101 Post by silencio79 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:52 am

::The lighting looks horrible, like something out of a cheap student film. "Well lit" in that you can see everything, but it looked really bad.::

I always felt that was intentional and another reason this scene shouldn't be equated with porn (which it is not). Kechiche isn't concerned with prettifying these scenes. He wants to show that raw reality. It isn't all about lighting, production value, and gorgeous shots (though I will say, the most beautiful shot in the sex scene is the one where Emma and Adele are laying with their limbs interwined, it looks like a painting).

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Kirkinson
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#102 Post by Kirkinson » Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:15 am

On the contrary, I think most of the film has a very natural look except for the sex scenes. It's mostly shot either with authentically motivated lighting or available sunlight. The first two sex scenes are the only part of the film where the lighting really looks "staged" to me, and therefore much further removed from "raw reality" than anything else in the film. It was precisely their artificiality that bothered me.

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hearthesilence
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#103 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:37 am

Kirkinson wrote:On the contrary, I think most of the film has a very natural look except for the sex scenes. It's mostly shot either with authentically motivated lighting or available sunlight. The first two sex scenes are the only part of the film where the lighting really looks "staged" to me, and therefore much further removed from "raw reality" than anything else in the film. It was precisely their artificiality that bothered me.
I agree with this. When I think of "raw reality," natural or available light usually gets a lot closer - think of cinéma vérité films or better yet think of Nestor Almendros, he came to his available light aesthetic from working in documentaries for so long and realizing he preferred that look to most studio-lit pictures. Artificial or stage lighting looks a lot more fake to me.

javi82
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#104 Post by javi82 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:08 am

What bothered me most was the numerous candles in the background during the sex scene. It seemed very cliche. Except for religious or cult ceremonies, who would bother to light 30-50 candles like that anymore? This, to me, exemplifies the artificiality of the scene.

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TMDaines
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#105 Post by TMDaines » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:29 pm

javi82 wrote:What bothered me most was the numerous candles in the background during the sex scene. It seemed very cliche. Except for religious or cult ceremonies, who would bother to light 30-50 candles like that anymore? This, to me, exemplifies the artificiality of the scene.
:-"

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hearthesilence
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#106 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:57 pm

All those candles and not one scene where they slather hot, melted wax on one another.

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remy
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#107 Post by remy » Wed Feb 19, 2014 12:11 pm

Blue is the warmest color was awarded the "Prix des auditeurs du Masque et la Plume", and on this occasion Abdellatif Kechiche was invited for a 30 minute interview on the show. He covered quite a bit of ground, from the production of the film to the (alleged) complaints from his crew and cast. He also confirmed that the editing of the director's cut had just been finished "the night before", mostly with added school teaching scenes. He underlines the importance of those scenes, the idea of the movie having originated from the teacher character in L'esquive (Games of Love and Chance).
He also hints (jokingly, perhaps) at an even longer cut.

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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#108 Post by criterion10 » Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:58 pm

remy wrote:He also confirmed that the editing of the director's cut had just been finished "the night before", mostly with added school teaching scenes.
I loved Blue is the Warmest Color, but the last thing the film needs is more school teaching scenes. I was hoping that the director's cut would develop a particular relationship that occurs in the latter portion of the film, though it now seems that this is unlikely.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#109 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:16 pm

Oh my god, more school teaching scenes in the director's cut?! Okay, this film is just not for me. That confirms it.

remy
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#110 Post by remy » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:21 pm

Indeed, that's what he states around the 29:40 mark (link in my post above) - more school scenes, with characters that did not make it in the theatrical cut (a natural science and philosophy teacher for instance).
I actually really liked those scenes, they work for me on multiple levels - they rang true to what school teaching is like (they were shot on location with students / teachers), but on a dramatic level they allow us to perceive Adele's unspoken state of mind. Having seen the movie once, I felt that worked well in the theatrical cut. I am certainly curious to see how his recurrent theme of "passing of knowledge" in Kechiche's body of work will unfold in this new cut and without a doubt in his next movies.
One last interesting bit from this interview, Kechiche states that he is working on adapting a book by Francois Begaudeau, La blessure, la vraie. Begaudeau wrote the novel that was the used for Laurent Cantet's 2008 Palme d'Or, The Class (Entre les murs).

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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#111 Post by criterion10 » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:30 pm

remy wrote:Indeed, that's what he states around the 29:40 mark (link in my post above) - more school scenes, with characters that did not make it in the theatrical cut (a natural science and philosophy teacher for instance).
Ah, now that's actually a bit different. I thought you were referring to an addition of scenes in the second half of the film where Adele is teaching, elementary students I believe. If these sequences occur when Adele is a student, learning from her professors, than I would be more than happy to see them. The few moments we do see of these encounters in the beginning of the film are some of the best that the film has to offer.

remy
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#112 Post by remy » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:37 pm

It is not entirely clear, but I indeed gather there will be additional "high school" scenes (first half of the movie) in that new cut.

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dad1153
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#113 Post by dad1153 » Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:29 am

Lea Seydoux will be a guest on Craig Ferguson's "Late Show" this Friday night. :)

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lacritfan
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#114 Post by lacritfan » Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:29 pm

I had a question about the passage of time -
SpoilerShow
At the beginning Adele is in high school at 17 since we see her 18th birthday party. 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? Adele told Emma's parents she had to get a masters degree and then her teaching credential so I'm wondering how many years that usually takes in France? I ask because I was really impressed with Adèle Exarchopoulos's acting from high schooler to adult but if that adult is supposed to be close to ten years older I'm even more impressed.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#115 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:34 pm

In the U.S. it takes around 2-3 years to obtain a Master's degree in most cases, I can't imagine it's much different in France.

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swo17
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#116 Post by swo17 » Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:37 pm

I thought the answer was going to be one hour of scenes of her teaching schoolchildren.

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lacritfan
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#117 Post by lacritfan » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:14 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:In the U.S. it takes around 2-3 years to obtain a Master's degree in most cases, I can't imagine it's much different in France.
That's why I'm curious, is it just like the U.S.? If so
SpoilerShow
that means 3-4 for a bachelor's, 2-3 for masters and maybe a year for the credential. So between high school and the breakup they were together 6-8 years?

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Mr Sausage
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#118 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:30 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:In the U.S. it takes around 2-3 years to obtain a Master's degree in most cases, I can't imagine it's much different in France.
It depends on the program and the University.

If it's a class-based Masters, it takes a year (that's how long I spent on my own Masters degree).

If it's class + thesis, it takes between 1-3 years, with two being the most likely.

Assuming the French system isn't terribly different from the North American System, she reasonably could have done both degrees in four to five years.

adavis53
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#119 Post by adavis53 » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:40 pm

The specific Bachelor's degree required to teach in primary school in france is called a licentiate and that program usually takes three years. I don't know much about the Master's degree she mentioned or how long that could take but there are other training programs and such to get your certificate which only take a year, so it could easily only have been four years as Mr Sausage pointed out.

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movielocke
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#120 Post by movielocke » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:41 pm

swo17 wrote:I thought the answer was going to be one hour of scenes of her teaching schoolchildren.
I thought those scenes of her teaching were more interesting than the scenes of her passively or disinterestedly listening to high school classes. She was unexpectedly harsh for a film portrayal of an elementary school teacher, it was awesome.

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Black Hat
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#121 Post by Black Hat » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:19 pm

swo17 wrote:I thought the answer was going to be one hour of scenes of her teaching schoolchildren.
I appreciate the joke here but it reminds me to ask, what's the issue so many people have with her teaching scenes? I thought the scenes worked very well and gave Adèle a backbone outside of her relationship Emma. Too many times relationship films have characters completely defined by the significant other without anything of their own. I also think it's important to remember when thinking about those scenes that the film is called La Vie d'Adèle and view them in that context.

phantomforce
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#122 Post by phantomforce » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:26 am

I didn't care much for the film, but it was definitely engaging. Still, I may be in the minority, but I'm surprised it's won all this acclaim. The performances were very good though, and for a moment I didn't realize these were accomplished actors and thought they might have hired porn stars (a la Baise Moi).

I'm a little shocked this is based on a comic book though. Is reading a comic of that really that interesting?

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knives
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#123 Post by knives » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:28 am

If the comic's well made. I would think the variety of story potentials for comic books was more than proven now.

phantomforce
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#124 Post by phantomforce » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:32 am

knives wrote:If the comic's well made. I would think the variety of story potentials for comic books was more than proven now.
I mean I love comics, graphic novels, etc. I've read Strangers in Paradise, Love and Rockets, Black Hole etc., and at least there were more characters and interesting environments and settings.

I guess I just don't see how the characters in BITWC can hold one's attention in graphic novel form for very long. The main character doesn't even really speak much in the film.

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knives
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Re: 695 Blue is the Warmest Color

#125 Post by knives » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:34 am

I don't think speech is really that necessary for a visual medium which comics certainly are. That said based on her comments I imagine the source is very different.

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