Blue Is the Warmest Color

"To love."

2013 3h 0m FR

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 4,959

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

“To love.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Léa Seydoux
Emma
Adèle Exarchopoulos
Adèle
Salim Kéchiouche
Samir
Aurélien Recoing
Adèle's Father
Catherine Salée
Adèle's Mother
Benjamin Siksou
Antoine
Mona Walravens
Lise
Alma Jodorowsky
Béatrice

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Writers: Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalya Lacroix
Languages: French, English
Countries: Belgium, France, Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 180 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, Spain.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, shot by Sofian El Fani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Albertine Lastera shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Abdellatif Kechiche directs. Sofian El Fani behind the camera. Albertine Lastera cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Belgium, France, Spain. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 180 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
2Shot for just $4.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.
4Released 13 years ago.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
6International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, Spain.
7Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, shot by Sofian El Fani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Editor Albertine Lastera shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos and Salim Kéchiouche carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "To love.".
11IMDB entry: tt2278871 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 20 themes, including "homophobia", "self-discovery", "eroticism", "coming of age".
13Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Sofian El Fani
Editing: Albertine Lastera
Production design: Julia Lemaire
Costume design: Paloma Garcia Martens
Runtime: 180 min · 3h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,300,000
Box office: $19,796,489
Return: 460% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NC-17
IMDB: Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

Awards

Palme d'Or
César Award for Best Female Revelation
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film
BIFA for Best Foreign Independent Film
FIPRESCI Prize of the Festival de Cannes
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film
Lumière Award for Best Female Revelation
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Louis Delluc Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Abdellatif Kechiche

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Community reviews

What people are saying

kineticandroid2014-06-21
Apart from the NC-17 sex scenes, the buzz of this film made me think it was going to be about the two people on the poster. But from the first frame, it's really just about one — Adele. So much film is spent focused on her face that it's easy to lose contact with other characters and the world around her. But in doing so, I felt very drawn into her thought process, which made the story of her romance to Emma that much more powerful, despite the language barrier and the relationship's keen specificities. Being so drawn in proved very helpful during the breakup scene. On it's own, you see a woman scorned and the sad stupidity of her unfaithful lover fighting a lost cause. But because we know so much about that unfaithful lover, I felt worse, because I know what led her to this place and was sad she couldn't articulate it in the moment. It added to what I think is the film's major achievement -- showing how an ecstatic love like Emma's and Adele's can end up feeling so isolating.
tmdb476334912018-04-07
★ 7/10
I became obsessed with Adele Exarchopoulos after seeing this. Didn't even have to look up that spelling. I ordered a custom-made 32" x 48" ish sized poster of her for my apartment that's still around somewhere. I'm pretty sure I tried to find her on snapchat. Thanks for reading.
CinemaSerf2024-08-24
★ 7/10
"Adèle" (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is a bit of a fish out of water at school. She doesn't quite fit in and finds the whole "boy" thing a bit of a turn off. Luckily the school also has it's extrovert in the blue-haired "Emma" (Léa Seydoux). She is shunned by her classmates because of the perception that she is just too eccentric for the normal kids, but "Adèle" finds her fascinating. Striking up a friendship, she soon discovers that there is more to be had from this alliance: something that comes with plusses and minuses and introduces her to the extremes of joy and pain. It's an obsession, an infatuation - an addiction, even, for "Adèle" but does "Emma" reciprocate. Is she looking for the same things from their relationship? Now, I'd have to say that there is no need for this story to take three hours to tell. At times it's a bit soapy, repetitive and moves as glacially as our own real-life experiences might have done - and who wants to relive them in real-time? That said, director Abdellatif Kechiche takes his time to carefully craft the characterisations of the women and of their families and the boys who are on the periphery of the girl's maturing personalities. There emerges an effective and engaging dynamic between the pair as the path of their true love most certainly doesn't run smoothly, and with some pithy dialogue and just a little raunchiness now and again, this is a better than average story of the challenges of an awakening spirit conflicted, hormonal and confused. It's worth a watch, but it can be a bit of a slog at times.