Blue is the warmest color book

Q: What is the message of Blue Is the Warmest Color?

The moral of Blue Is the Warmest Color” is simple: Sex without love is nothing; life without love is even less. French filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiches story of sexual awakening and real love stretches over 10 years.

Blue Is the Warmest Color (Le bleu est une couleur chaude)
Original cover of the English-language edition Table of Contents Show Summary[edit] History[edit] Editions and translations[edit] Awards[edit] Film adaptation[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] Is Blue Is the Warmest Color based on a book? What is the message of Blue Is the Warmest Color? What happens at the end of Blue Is the Warmest Color? How old is the main character of Blue Is the Warmest Color?
Date	March 2010
Page count	160 pages
Publisher	Glénat
Creative team
Creator	Jul Maroh (credited as Julie Maroh)
Original publication
Date of publication	March 2010
Language	French
ISBN	978-2723467834
Translation
Publisher	Arsenal Pulp Press
Date	2013
ISBN	978-1551525143

Blue Is the Warmest Color (French: Le bleu est une couleur chaude, originally announced as Blue Angel) is a French graphic novel by Jul Maroh, published by Glénat in March 2010.[1] The English-language edition was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2013. The novel tells a love story between two young women in France at the end of the 1990s. Abdelatif Kechiche directed a film adaptation in 2013, titled Blue Is the Warmest Colour, which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Summary[edit]

The story takes place in France between 1994 and 2008. After the death of her partner Clémentine, Emma goes to the home of Clémentine's parents, Daniel and Fabienne, in accordance with Clémentine's will, to request access to Clémentine's personal diary. Emma must face the hostility of Clémentine's father, somewhat offset by Clémentine's welcoming mother. The story then follows Emma as she reads Clémentine's diary, which tells the whole story of the relationship between the two young women from Clémentine's teenage years and her first meeting with Emma to her untimely death.

In the beginning, Clémentine meets a boy, Thomas, who is a student in Terminale (final year of lycée, the French equivalent of senior high school or sixth-form college); they like each other, but soon afterward, Clémentine becomes intrigued by a chance meeting with a blue-haired young woman on the arm of another woman, Sabine Decocq. For Clémentine, it is love at first sight. Unable to forget this encounter, she starts to have doubts about her sexuality, but decides to date Thomas because she wants to feel normal. Six months later, Clémentine is unable to have sex with Thomas and breaks up with him. Feeling depressed, she is helped by one of her male friends, Valentin, to whom she confesses everything; Valentin tells her that he has already dated a boy, which Clémentine finds quite comforting.

One evening shortly thereafter, Valentin takes Clémentine to some gay bars. Clémentine sees the blue-haired young woman again with Sabine at a lesbian bar. The blue-haired girl comes to talk to Clémentine and introduces herself as Emma. The two keep in touch and become friends, while Clémentine secretly falls in love with Emma. Clémentine then has to face the gossip and homophobic taunts from some of her schoolmates when they hear that she and Emma were at a gay bar together. Some time later, while the relationship between Emma and Sabine has somewhat stalled (mainly because Sabine often cheats on Emma), Clémentine eventually confides her feelings to Emma, who in turn says she is in love with her. The girls have sex and start an affair. Emma eventually finds the strength to break up with Sabine and starts living with Clémentine. One night, when the two spend the evening at Clémentine's place, Emma walks into the kitchen completely naked to get a glass of milk and Clémentine's mother catches her. Clémentine's parents then find both of them nude in the bedroom and their reaction is violently hostile: Clémentine is thrown out of her home, along with Emma.

Clémentine then starts living at Emma's parents' place; the two subsequently get a home of their own and live there happily for several years. Emma becomes an artist, while Clémentine becomes a high school teacher. Emma starts to become politically involved and takes part in LGBT activism, while Clémentine prefers to keep her sexuality private. One day, Emma discovers that Clémentine cheated on her with a male colleague; she angrily breaks up with her and kicks her out. Clémentine, who has taken refuge at Valentin's place, becomes depressed and addicted to pills. Valentin organises a meeting and leaves both women alone on a beach. Still in love with each other, they reconcile, but Clémentine is undone by her addiction, which results in a seizure that puts her in the hospital, where Emma discovers that she is not allowed access to her at first. Clémentine's parents and Emma eventually learn that it is too late to save her; the damage from the drugs is too great. Clémentine writes the final pages of her diary at the hospital, and then dies. As Emma reads the diary's conclusion, she remembers that Clémentine urged her to continue living her life as she knows it.

History[edit]

Maroh started the comic at the age of 19 and took five years to complete it. It was supported by the French Community of Belgium.[1]

From 27 to 30 January 2011, the novel was promoted during the 2011 Angoulême International Comics Festival, where it was part of the official selection.[2] During this festival, Blue Is the Warmest Color was awarded the Fnac-SNCF Essential prize, an award selected by the public.

Editions and translations[edit]

(in French) Julie Maroh, Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Glénat – Hors collection, 2010 ISBN 978-2-7234-6783-4
Julie Maroh, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2013 ISBN 978-1-55152-514-3
(in Spanish) Julie Maroh, El azul es un color cálido, Dibbuks [es], 2011 ISBN 978-84-92902-44-6
(in Dutch) Julie Maroh, Blauw is een warme kleur, Glénat – Hors collection, 2011 ISBN 978-90-6969-933-2
(in Portuguese) Julie Maroh, Azul é a cor mais quente, Editora Martins Fontes [pt] – Selo Martins, 2013 ISBN 978-85-8063-125-8
(in Greek) Julie Maroh, Το Μπλε είναι το πιο Ζεστό Χρώμα, ΚΨΜ, 2013 ISBN 978-96-0675-084-7
(in Swedish) Julie Maroh, Blå är den varmaste färgen, Nubeculis, 2015 ISBN 978-91-6378-736-2

Awards[edit]

Prix Jeune Auteur at the Salon de la BD et des Arts Graphiques of Roubaix 2010
Prix Conseil Régional at the festival of Blois 2010[1]
Fnac-SNCF Essential at the 2011 Angoulême International Comics Festival
Diplôme "Isidor" of the website altersexualite.com[3]
Prix BD des lycéens de la Guadeloupe[4]
Prize of the best international album during the 4e Festival international de la BD d'Alger in 2011[5]

Film adaptation[edit]

A film adaptation was made by Abdelatif Kechiche, with Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos in the main roles, released in 2013[6] under the title Blue Is the Warmest Colour. Like the book, it received great critical acclaim, winning several awards, including the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

While the first two thirds of the film are similar (with Clémentine renamed "Adèle"), the ending is different from the book: Adèle is still alive, and the two lovers split up due to what are strongly suggested to be irreconcilable differences.

References[edit]

^ a b c Aurélia Vertaldi (21 January 2011). "Moi, Clémentine, 15 ans, je vis pour les yeux d'Emma". Le Figaro. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
^ Angoulême 2011: la sélection officielle Archived May 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ Critique du site altersexualite.com
^ "Palmarès 2011 Prix BD des lycéens de la Guadeloupe ". Archived from the original on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
^ Résultats des concours professionnels sur le site du festival Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Page consultée le 29 November 2011.
^ Le Bleu est une couleur chaude Archived July 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine – Premiere.fr

External links[edit]

Blue is the Warmest Color - Arsenal Pulp Press
Le Bleu est une couleur chaude on Glénat (in French)
Azul é a cor mais quente na Editora Martins Fontes – Selo Martins

Is Blue Is the Warmest Color based on a book?

The live-action, French-language film version of the book, entitled Blue Is the Warmest Color, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013. Directed by director Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, the film generated both wide praise and controversy.

What is the message of Blue Is the Warmest Color?

The moral of “Blue Is the Warmest Color” is simple: Sex without love is nothing; life without love is even less. French filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche's story of sexual awakening and real love stretches over 10 years.

What happens at the end of Blue Is the Warmest Color?

The film ends with Adéle in a better place after the break-up. She enjoys being a teacher, and seems as confident as ever with herself around others. She meets Emma a couple more times — years after the break-up — and the conversation is cordial and loving. Throughout the film, the story was always its strong point.

How old is the main character of Blue Is the Warmest Color?

Plot. Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is an introverted 15-year-old high-school student. She passes an older woman with short blue hair in the streets one day and is instantly attracted. She sleeps with Thomas, a boy from school, but is ultimately dissatisfied and ends their relationship.