The concept of love is not new to the movie world, but it is rare to find it in the same emotional and moving way that it is portrayed in the French film Blue is the Warmest Color.

The film tells the tale of a high school teenager, Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos), as she starts to discover her sexuality. Her life changes when she meets blue-haired Emma (Léa Seydoux), and an intense and emotional love affair erupts between the two.

In 179 minutes, this film realistically portrays the rise and fall of a romantic relationship due to a number of factors that many young adults can identify with.

In the beginning, Adele struggles to conceal the inner turmoil of faking her sexual identity. She is afraid to admit or explore her attraction to women, lest she be judged or outcast by her family and peers. 

As the movie progresses, her level of comfort with her sexuality does as well. Adele’s relationship with Emma helps her come to terms with who she is and what she wants in life. Emma challenges Adele mentally, emotionally, and sexually.

Among the most talked about aspects of this film are its bedroom scenes. Each scene is very intense and graphic, and yet does a great job of portraying Adele’s chemistry and feelings towards her partners. Some may believe that the film shows too much sex, however, each scene is necessary to tell Adele’s story as accurately as possible.

The majority of the film is shot using very tight close up shots of the characters, mainly on Adele, and when the camera is on others, it doesn’t stay on them very long. This tactic helps to portray Adele’s thoughts and feelings in every scene. Almost every cut back to the protagonist can be described as a reaction.

As the years go by in the film, one can see through the close focus on the main character that her thoughts, ideas and emotions are maturing alongside her experiences.

Exarchopoulos and Seydoux do a fantastic job of bringing emotional power to the film by portraying their characters’ emotions through their facial expressions, always keeping in mind the tight shots on them.

Blue is the Warmest Color is now available for streaming on Netflix.