http://youtu.be/_NYyBA7zWfM
Described as a ‘tender, sensual lesbian romance,’ Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche’s three-hour paean to generational love, took the top prize – the Palme d’Or – at this years Cannes Film Fetival, widely regarding as one of the most prestigious film awards in the world.
The film centers almost entirely around one woman’s sexual awakening with another many years her senior. But the film was so warmly received, Steven Spielberg, the head of the jury issuing the prizes, and his colleagues, decided to issue an award to the director and its two stars: Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. The three clutched each other as they accepted the award, one of cinema’s greatest honors.
Exarchopoulos stars in the French film as a 15-year-old girl whose life is changed when she falls in love with an older woman, played by Seydoux. The three-hour film caught headlines for its lengthy, graphic sex scenes, but bewitched festival goers with its heartbreaking coming of age story.
Life of Adele, which premiered at Cannes just days after France legalized gay marriage, was hailed as a landmark film for its intimate portrait of a same-sex relationship. “The film is a great love story that made all of us feel privileged to be a fly on the wall, to see this story of deep love and deep heartbreak evolve from the beginning,” said Spielberg. “The director didn’t put any constraints on the narrative, on the storytelling. He let the scenes play as long as scenes play in real life.”
While the aftereffects on the vote to allow sex-sex marriage in France are still playing out, another story with far graver consequences is winding its way through the American court system. Kaitlin Hunt, an 18-year-old high school senior is facing felony charges over a same-sex relationship with a 14-year-old freshman classmate. She is facing two years of house arrest and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. Her lawyer, Julia Graves, was quick to point out that had this happened 108 days ago (when Kaitlin was 17) or had her sex been different, her fate would have the sort of outcome filmmakers at Cannes dream of.
