This one will probably be forever known as the “long French lesbian movie” and, on paper, it sounds like the ultimate cliche to have a three-hour French film centered around a young woman’s sexual development with other women. Oh, and some of the scenes are steamy enough that the film has an NC-17 rating, and (unlike any American movies where hot sex must be immediately punished with violence) there’s not a single gun shot or gruesome moment in it. Still, is there enough left over in the movie to recommend it? That’s the three hour long question…
What Works: The lead performance by Adele Exarchopoulos (nope, I’ll never be able to write that without looking it up) is terrific. Adele (it’s her character’s name too) has a face that can teeter right on the edge of doe-eyed vulnerability and sexualized ferocity, which is a great asset in a role that asks her to be naive and ravenous at the same time. Although her bi-sexual character is “seduced” by the older, more experienced lesbian played by Lea Seydoux, it’s Adele who sometimes looks like she’s going to devour Ley. She turns romantic longing into something visceral, and it’s the most compelling thing in the movie. And the sex scenes may look like “art porn” on the surface but do actually reveal things about these character’s chemistries.
What Doesn’t Work: Lea’s character is (deliberately) colder, more elusive, and harder to sympathize with. I realize that this is intentional, but the self-satisfied character never pulls us in the way she does Adele, and that becomes more challenging in the last act when Adele is desperate to hang onto their relationship. We may not see much worth begging for. Also, could the movie have been trimmed thirty minutes? Definitely. Could it have been trimmed an hour? Maybe. I like long movies, and I liked that the film was trying to provide an immersive experience that takes its time, but if others get restless during endless scenes of characters talking about philosophy, then I certainly can’t blame them.
What I Would Have Done Differently: How good this movie is could likely be debated for hours and never reach a real conclusion, but I would have liked to have seen a tighter run time, less general pretentiousness (I find it hard to believe that real life French people are big enough cliches/parodies of themselves to actually sit around talking philosophy over a spaghetti diner), and a less chilly half of the relationship.