Just a few days after France’s historic decision to legalize same sex marriages and the resulting riots and protest, Blue Is The Warmest Color, a lesbian themed french film wins the Palme d’Or, the top honor, at the 66th Cannes film Festival. Steven Spielberg, who heads the jury this year recognized not only the director, Abdellatif Kechiche, but also the movie’s lead actresses; Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux.
The film is based on a French graphic novel and follows two young women, Adèle and Emma, and is said to feature a 15 minute long sex scene; which of course will have to be censored before being released to the public. It is the maturity and sensitivity with which the story is told that resulted in it winning such a prestigious award.
While the jurors deny that there is any political statement to their decision for the Palme d’Or, a decision like this sends a very strong and positive message throughout the society. The Palme d’Or is the highest accolade any film and filmmaker can receive. In the past, films such as Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, Lars Von Trier’s Dancer In The Dark, and last year Michael Haneke’s Amour have won it.
Blue Is The Deepest Color is estimated to open in theatres in October 2013.
