Abdellatif Kechiche is unapologetic about his much-criticised lesbian love story
His latest film has met with a barrage of criticism for its graphic and lengthy lesbian sex scenes, but far from being apologetic, Abdellatif Kechiche tells Edmund Lee he plans to release an extended cut
IT'S A SIGN THAT a filmmaker has done something right when he wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival - and few of the many ensuing disputes about his film concern its merits. That's what 53-year-old Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche achieved with his Blue is the Warmest Colour in 2013.
Rather, the main controversies have involved the critically acclaimed three-hour lesbian romance being spiced with graphic and unusually lengthy sex scenes.
"The most recurrent question I've been asked is about the love scenes. I hadn't expected that," he says on a recent visit for the Hong Kong French Film Festival.
A devastatingly intense chronicle of a love affair between high school student Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and aspiring visual artist Emma (Léa Seydoux), Kechiche's Lille-set character study is loosely based on Julie Maroh's celebrated graphic novel of the same title. But the director confirms during our interview that he made no contact with her throughout the filmmaking process.
A self-professed feminist and lesbian, Maroh drew first blood with Blue is the Warmest Colour's persistent negative publicity when, back in May, she publicly bemoaned the lack of lesbians involved in the film's production. She also compared the resulting work - which also came away with the Fipresci Prize at Cannes - to porn.
Then there are leading ladies Exarchopoulos and Seydoux, who were jointly awarded the Palme d'Or - an honour previously reserved for film directors - with Kechiche. They famously complained in a press interview four months later that they were subjected to "horrible" treatment on the set, which allegedly included an arduous 10-day shoot for the extended sex scenes, as well as a one-hour continuous take for a break-up scene in which one actress was asked to repeatedly hit the other for real.