Lesbian love film opens amid sex scene row

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Two leads say filming made them 'psychologically ill'

TRAUMATIC. 'It was horrible,' say the two stars on the filming. Photo from the film's Facebook

PARIS, France – A lesbian-love movie that scooped best film at Cannes opens in mid-October, but its Palme d’Or has been tarnished by a row between the director and his stars over the filming of its graphic sex scenes.

The 3-hour-long “Blue is the Warmest Color” caused a sensation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, making stars out of its two lead actresses, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux.

The pair was all smiles on the French Riviera as they posed for photographs with the film’s French-Tunisian director, Abdellatif Kechiche.

Chairman of the jury Steven Spielberg hailed it as a “profound love story,” adding that the judges had been “absolutely spellbound” by the brilliance of the women’s performances and “the way the director… let the characters breathe.”

Bitter complaints

But fast forward several months and the mood surrounding the film has soured, with bitter complaints from both actresses about Kechiche’s working methods.

In an interview published on September 1 by US website The Daily Beast, Exarchopoulos said she had been unprepared for the extent to which Kechiche required her to immerse herself in the role.

“Once we were on the shoot, I realized that he really wanted us to give him everything. Most people don’t even dare to ask the things that he did, and they’re more respectful,” she said.

Seydoux complained that a 10-minute sex scene in the film took a full “10 days to shoot.”

And both women complained about a fight scene.

“It was horrible. She [Seydoux] was hitting me so many times and [Kechiche] was screaming ‘Hit her! Hit her again!'” Exarchopoulos said.

In another interview, with TV magazine Telerama, Seydoux also described the filming as “horrible” and said she did not think it should be released.

Here’s the trailer:

“For me, this film should not come out, it has been sullied too much. The Palme d’Or was only a brief moment of happiness, afterward I felt humiliated and dishonored, I felt a rejection of my person, [and] that I live like a curse,” said Seydoux.

Exarchopoulos, for her part, described Kechiche as a “tortured genius” and said his demands had harmed both of them.

“He made us ill psychologically at times because he loves his actresses to let go and it’s hard to do,” she said.

Metier

Kechiche has responded by saying he believes the comments show “a lack of respect for a metier that I regard as sacred.”

And French actress Hafsia Herzi, who has worked with Kechiche, launched a defense in his behalf.

He is a “very humane man who gives a chance to people even when they don’t have experience,” Herzi told French film magazine So Film.

Critic and film historian Jean-Michel Frodon said Kechiche’s film would join the ranks of movies that have seen well-publicized difficulties between directors and their stars.

Such tensions often came about when actors felt they were giving things to the camera, “having exhausted their defenses or self-control”, Frodon said.

The Cannes festival’s artistic director, Thierry Fremaux, recalled that when “The Shining” came out, audiences were unaware of the on-set problems between Jack Nicholson and Stanley Kubrick.

“Jack Nicholson today, like Malcolm McDowell in [Kubrick’s] ‘A Clockwork Orange,’ says that shooting was awful but that they are grateful to Kubrick for everything that the films brought them,” Fremaux said.

“A Clockwork Orange” is based on Anthony Burgess’ 1962 novella, and “The Shining,” on Stephen King’s 1977 novel.

“Blue is the Warmest Color” opens in France and Belgium on October 9, followed by other European countries between October 10 and 25.

It will have a limited release in the United States from October 25, as well as slots at 4 film festivals the same month, including Chicago and New York. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!