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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

This tastefully told coming-of-age tale, with its simulated but nevertheless convincingly explicit lesbian sex scenes, was the talk of the 2013 Cannes film festival, though it's perhaps too slight and too long to create much of a stir with multiplex audiences. For anyone intrigued by the film's salacious reputation, the steamy moments barely make up 15 minutes of the three-hour running time, which dwells mostly on teenage heroine Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who makes a botched attempt at a relationship with a male schoolfriend before falling for the blue-haired and openly gay Emma (Léa Seydoux) after spotting her in the street. The small-town setting of Lille is important, since this allows Adèle to trace Emma to a local bar, and the pair begin a full-on but ill-fated affair. The intensity is clear from the more intimate moments, but this very adult and measured film is also concerned with the minutiae of Adèle's life, notably in the infant school where she teaches. The two leads, not to mention Abdel Kechiche's direction, are excellent; justifying the first-ever time the Palme d'Or was awarded jointly to both director and actors. As for the story, many will wonder what the fuss was about.

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Credits

Cast

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EmmaLéa Seydoux
AdèleAdèle Exarchopoulos
SamirSalim Kechiouche
Adéle's fatherAurélien Recoing
Adéle's motherCatherine Salée
AntoineBenjamin Siksou
LiseMona Walravens
BéatriceAlma Jodorowsky

Crew

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DirectorAbdel Kechiche

Details

Theatrical distributor
Artificial Eye
Released on
2013-11-22
Languages
English | French
Guidance
Swearing, sex scenes, nudity.
Available on
DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
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