This movie is mesmerizing, there really is nothing else like it. Those sex scenes, and being so graphic were a huge mistake. Besides being awkward and feeling out of place, they actually take you out of the movie. It's like you are wrapped up in wonderful scene after wonderful scene, then suddenly you feel like you are watching a lesbian porn scene.
shareNot really - it was integral to illustrate their passion for one another and this is how it's expired. We see every detail of Adele's life ("The Life of Adele"), as well as her interests... we see her eat, we see her shower, we see her sleep, so it's only natural we see her bedroom activities with the love of her life. Have you read the graphic novel? The sex scenes in it are just as explicit as they were in the film. The sex scenes didn't come out of nowhere, they were intricate to the story.
shareMy problem was this: the film is exquisitely shot. The Criterion Blu-Ray is utterly gorgeous.
Then, the first non-dream sex scene is shot mostly from the POV of a tripod just above mattress level with flat light coming from behind the camera. This scene is followed by other sex scenes shot in the same manner. Yes, there are inserts of CUs throughout, but that boring establishing shot that is returned to repeatedly looks like the essential do-it-yourself porn aesthetic.
According to the trivia here, the author of the book thought the film was great but was disappointed with the sex - and I can see why. Also according to the trivia here, one sex took 10 days to film. Ridiculous. If anything is gratuitous or suspicious about this film, it's that information.
"Rampart: Squad 51."
Lol they were integral? So if they hadn't had almost a half dozen graphic sex scenes, you'd have had no idea that Adele was in love? Give me a break. A good actor can convey that in nothing more than facial expressions and subtle body language. I'm not saying the actresses here weren't talented, I'm simply saying that constant gratuitous sex is not needed to show a true love.
shareconstant gratuitous sex
Lol they were integral? So if they hadn't had almost a half dozen graphic sex scenes, you'd have had no idea that Adele was in love? Give me a break. A good actor can convey that in nothing more than facial expressions and subtle body language. I'm not saying the actresses here weren't talented, I'm simply saying that constant gratuitous sex is not needed to show a true love.
How many of the scenes in this film were actually 'integral'? We didn't need to see Adele eating, sleeping, and walking around to know she was a regular human being either, but that wasn't the point, nor was the point of the sex scenes to demonstrate that they were in love. I don't even think the sex scenes were even supposed to be 'loving' (Emma said that she missed Adele's sex even though she wasn't in love with her anymore). This was a slice of life film, the very essence of which is designed to capture the everyday.
Not really - it was integral to illustrate their passion for one another and this is how it's expired. We see every detail of Adele's life ("The Life of Adele"), as well as her interests... we see her eat, we see her shower, we see her sleep, so it's only natural we see her bedroom activities with the love of her life. Have you read the graphic novel? The sex scenes in it are just as explicit as they were in the film. The sex scenes didn't come out of nowhere, they were intricate to the story.
The sex scenes were pretty much the only thing I did like about the movie---and even they could have been better, i.e. more tender, romantic!
But basically, I for one have no problem with sex scenes at all. I just wish the movie as a whole was more romantic.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!
Except the sex scenes were romantic and passionate.
Last Films seen:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2(2015)- 7/10
Passionate, yes. But, I don't consider them romantic. To me, there is a big difference between the two. Granted, they aren't necessarily mutually exclusive qualities, but in this instance, it was a case of one or the other, I think. And, those seemed far too carnal to be romantic (which requires finesse and an emphasis on tenderness) to be romantic. There was nothing romantic about the scissoring, etc. That's just carnal.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!
Actually the first sex scene was very romantic and had real tenderness. And the scissoring scene was both passionate, and romantic because of how they lost themselves with each other. Carnal and romance are usually one in the same.
You seem to have a more narrow idea of what romance entails. But romance, doesn't need to have a lack of carnal, in order to be romantic. And the point of the sex scenes in the film, was to show the objective side to their relationship, and then constrast them with the subjective part of their relationship. And the objective part of their relationship is their sexuality. During the sex, they have absolute chemistry, and everything in common. But with the more subjective side to their relationship, they have very little in common. Emma is more educated on art and culture, and Adele was more into teaching and education. Even Emma's friends can't really connect with Adele, and that's one of the reasons to why Adele started cheating on Emma, and ruined the relationship.
Last Films seen:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2(2015)- 7/10
Out of place? Maybe. Awkward? Just for you.
Awkward for most people actually. They could have gotten a better effect with briefer, well done sex scenes.
And it takes away from the quality of the overall movie. When people talk about this movie, the first thing that is usually mentioned is the graphic sex scenes, and not what a great movie it is
Yes, it's the first thing mentioned. But is it always talked about in a negative way? Not really. A lot of people thought they were hot. Also, "awkward" means "uncomfortable". Even the actresses didn't feel awkward.
shareActually the actresses did feel awkward.
Q: And was it difficult to shoot that 10-minute sex scene? I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a sex scene that long in a movie—gay or hetero.
Léa: For us, it’s very embarrassing.
Adèle: At Cannes, all of our families were there in the theater so during the sex scenes I’d close my eyes. [Kechiche] told me to imagine it’s not me, but it’s me, so I’d close my eyes and imagined I was on an island far away, but I couldn’t help but listen, so I didn’t succeed in escaping. The scene is a little too long.
Source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/01/the-stars-of-blue-is-the-warmest-color-on-the-riveting-lesbian-love-sory-and-graphic-sex-scenes.html
Their first sex encounter was almost 6 minutes long.
...reifications are the shadows cast by the opacity of language
I felt that way as well. They ran too long, were utlimately unnecessary (certainly more explicit than necessary), yet actually boring.
"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."
You know a lot of the people who complain about the sex scenes the most probably wouldn't have watched this movie in the first place if it weren't for the sex scenes.
There were only four sex scenes. They total maybe 15 minutes of a 3 hour movie. They weren't 100 percent successful, but they hardly ruin the movie. And they were hardly a "huge mistake".
They also weren't boring--unless you consider getting a huge erection boring. . .
But it's so explicit.Kids shouldn't watch this.
share
Err well it's rated NC-17 so kids shouldn't be watching it anyway, at what point were you watching the film and thinking it's aimed at kids lol? It's up to parents to monitor what their kids watch.
I agree with the op. This is a great film. The ONLY flaw in my opinion was the sex scenes' length. I don't have a problem with how they were shot, or how explicit they were. I just felt they took me out of the movie in an unintentional way. At a certain point we can't help but feel like we're doing our homework by sitting through it. Through no fault of their own, the actors were struggling to maintain their authenticity as actors . . . I mean, ten minutes straight of pretending to have wild animalistic sex is nearly impossible to do. I don't think it 'ruined' the film, but it didn't make it any better.
shareEven without the sex scenes, this film is not for kids, because thematically speaking it's not something most kids would really understand, and therefore appreciate, at their stage of life. It probably wouldn't interest them.
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'Save me, Barry!'
Yeahh. It's up to the mother and father to see what they kids watching. BTW I am 18 so I can entered the movie theater and watch this movie.
shareI also think what really adds to the "porn"/awkward feel of the sex scenes is that the film never shows any build-up to the sex (i.e. Adele and Emma making out, undressing each other, engaging in foreplay). There's a deleted scene where Adele describes to Valentin how Emma seduced her the first time that they had sex, and I think it would have made a difference if we had seen this instead of cutting immediately from their first kiss to the two of them naked and humping on a bed.
The Spanish film Room in Rome, which is about a lesbian affair, faced similar criticism about its sex scenes as BITWC (e.g. saying it was too "male gaze"-y and gratuitous and people accusing the filmmaker of just looking for an excuse to make a lesbian softcore porn). However, I personally found the sex scenes in Room in Rome, which were also quite explicit, to be far more "natural" and less awkward than BITWC's because the build-up of the characters seducing one another was depicted. (That said, BITWC is an excellent film while Room in Rome is otherwise very mediocre, so don't take this as an endorsement of Room in Rome.)
Nailed it. The sex scenes were an integral in conveying the type of relationship they had and what it was based on....but the placement was ridiculous. Mainly the first scene. I mean there was that absolutely stunning moment in the park leading into the kiss....then WHAM they're full on busting each other down. I was like wait..where am I. Auntie Em?!..lol
But nothing wrong with the sex scenes existing, just how he fed it to the audience may have caused the controversy.
Now the wet dream/masturbation scene as well as the scene after Adele's family dinner were perfection!?
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did they? I thought they were really realistic.
shareThey did take me out of the film.
shareIt was a huge mistake for me because hte actresses doing the scenes sucked .They werent believeable at all.Maybe it had to do with the director who knows but i wasn't buying that these two chicks were lesbo .It seems to me like it was two straight chicks who were coached in how to dyking ish out between themselves .I blame the film maker more than anything .He's a childish fool who gave into his self indulgence instead of being professional about things .
Let face it, people hate art movies. Especially when they are not expecting an art movie