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.
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.
"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.
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.
Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.
Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Lili, a pouty and voluptuous 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in Biarritz. She's self-aware and holds her own in a café conversation with a concert pianist she meets, but she has a wild streak and she's testing her powers over men, finding that she doesn't always control her moods or actions, and she's impatient with being a virgin. She sets off with her brother to a disco, latching onto an aging playboy who is himself hot and cold to her. She is ambivalent about losing her virginity that night, willing the next, and determined by the third.
Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
A young man struggles with his burgeoning homosexuality. As his best friend starts to drift away, he develops a crush on a laborer that works for his father. He pursues his affections, to dangerous results.
Good Morning, Karachi is the story of a young girl (Amna Ilyas) who wants to be a model while struggling towards her dream against the backdrop of the Benazir Bhutto assassination.
Liv Sandor, 38, following an argument with her boyfriend, sets off to wander the city, observing passers-by and reminiscing about her past loves. In all her relationships, there was always a turning point, when things started going downhill. On the streets of Zurich Liv faces her fears, joys and demons. In her third feature film, Swiss director Anna Luif tells the tragi-comical trajectory of an independent woman who learns to love on life’s emotional rollercoaster. A rhythmic, colourful, collage-like journey into the mind and soul of modern women.
Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country, during which Axel challenges Eyal's values.
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.