Screening in Hungarian art cinemas since October 1, this year’s Palme d'Or winner La Vie d'Adèle is a compulsory piece not just for art movie lovers, but for everyone interested in world-class contemporary film. As most of the best works in the history of filmmaking, La Vie d'Adèle is provocative: it tells the passionate love story of a teenage girl (Adèle) and a young woman (Emma) in an embarrassingly naturalistic way. The very details of an 18-year-old girl’s emotional vibration are followed by the means of impressive close-ups. The insecure, clumsy way of searching her identity is expressed by the means of physical, bodily signs: her first dating, first sexual fantasies, and first disappointments are full of tears, spittle and snot. After winning in Cannes, the Tunisian-French director, Abdellatif Kechiche was widely criticized because of the long, naturalistic lesbian sex scenes. One can admit that it is sometimes embarrassing to get so close to the body of the characters, but because of this closeness, the audience cannot avoid being affected by their emotional world. The strong feeling of involvement enables the spectators to identify themselves with the main character and experience the cathartic moments of the story - this should be the basic idea of every film ever made. However, today’s most Hollywood movies offer lighter “instant” entertainment: no involvement, no real feelings beyond the surface. Finally, Kechiche’s film wants the audience to get involved, and think about some crucial questions of contemporary life and society.
On the one hand, the film raises important identity and social issues concerning the modern teenagers and the acceptance of homosexuality. On the other hand, it tells a beautiful and painful story about love regardless of gender, and asks the evergreen question whether passion is sustainable or not… La Vie d'Adèle is a three hours long movie but you do not feel the time passing, and when it ends you long for watching Adèle for another three hours.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Based on the comic by Julie Maroh
Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adèle and Léa Seydoux as Emma
Language: French
Alexandra Kocsis, Hungary, Medieval Studies
Image: official film poster
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