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,[a] published by Glnat in March 2010.[3] 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.
The story takes place in France between 1994 and 2008. After the death of her partner Clmentine, Emma goes to the home of Clmentine's parents, Daniel and Fabienne, in accordance with Clmentine's will, to request access to Clmentine's personal diary. Emma must face the hostility of Clmentine's father, somewhat offset by Clmentine's welcoming mother. The story then follows Emma as she reads Clmentine's diary, which tells the whole story of the relationship between the two young women from Clmentine's teenage years and her first meeting with Emma to her untimely death.
In the beginning, Clmentine meets a boy, Thomas, who is a student in Terminale (final year of lyce, the French equivalent of senior high school or sixth-form college); they like each other, but soon afterward, Clmentine becomes intrigued by a chance meeting with a blue-haired young woman on the arm of another woman, Sabine Decocq. For Clmentine, 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, Clmentine 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 Clmentine finds quite comforting.
One evening shortly thereafter, Valentin takes Clmentine to some gay bars. Clmentine sees the blue-haired young woman again with Sabine at a lesbian bar. The blue-haired girl comes to talk to Clmentine and introduces herself as Emma. The two keep in touch and become friends, while Clmentine secretly falls in love with Emma. Clmentine 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), Clmentine eventually confides her feelings to Emma, who in turn says she is in love with her. They have sex and start an affair. Emma eventually finds the strength to break up with Sabine and starts living with Clmentine. One night, when the two spend the evening at Clmentine's place, Emma walks into the kitchen completely naked to get a glass of milk and Clmentine's mother catches her. Clmentine's parents then find both of them nude in the bedroom and their reaction is violently hostile: Clmentine is thrown out of her home, along with Emma.
Clmentine 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 Clmentine becomes a high school teacher. Emma starts to become politically involved and takes part in LGBT activism, while Clmentine prefers to keep her sexuality private. One day, Emma discovers that Clmentine cheated on her with a male colleague; she angrily breaks up with her and kicks her out. Clmentine, 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 Clmentine 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. Clmentine's parents and Emma eventually learn that it is too late to save her; the damage from the drugs is too great. Clmentine writes the final pages of her diary at the hospital, and then dies. As Emma reads the diary's conclusion, she remembers that Clmentine urged her to continue living her life as she knows it.
From 27 to 30 January 2011, the novel was promoted during the 2011 Angoulme International Comics Festival, where it was part of the official selection.[4] During this festival, Blue Is the Warmest Color was awarded the Fnac-SNCF Essential prize, an award selected by the public.
A film adaptation was made by Abdelatif Kechiche, with La Seydoux and Adle Exarchopoulos in the main roles, released in 2013[9] 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 Clmentine renamed "Adle"), the ending is different from the book: Adle is still alive, and the two lovers split up due to what are strongly suggested to be irreconcilable differences.
Sepideh Jodeyri, an Iranian poet in the Czech Republic, made a Persian translation, as Abi Garmtarin Rang Ast. Conservative groups in Iran criticised her. There was a plan for a debut of this translation in Tehran, but it was later canceled.[10]
Synopsis (Goodreads): Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.
The panels are mostly done in shades of grey, and the vivid blues punctuating the story are evocative and memorable. It reads like a very sexy dream feels. Maroh manages to capture those conflicted feelings of first love and a character who is unsure of her own identity.
While not appropriate for a young adult collection, this is a graphic novel a lot of teens would enjoy, and not just for the sexy images. The story is one of coming out, of finding love, and of finding oneself.
Summary: Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.
Vividly illustrated and beautifully told, Blue Is the Warmest Color is a brilliant, bittersweet, full-color graphic novel about the elusive, reckless magic of love. It is a lesbian love story that crackles with the energy of youth, rebellion, and desire.
Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling inlove, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friendtakes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in arelationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.
Vividly illustrated and beautifully told, Blue Is the Warmest Color isa brilliant, bittersweet, full-color graphic novel about the elusive, reckless magic of love. It is a lesbian love story that crackles with the energy of youth, rebellion, and desire.
The live-action, French-language film version of Blue Is the WarmestColor won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013.Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, the film generated wide praise as well as controversy for its explicit scenes. It opened in the fall of 2013 through Sundance Selects/IFC Films (USA) and Mongrel Media (Canada) as well as other countries around the world, including the UK and Ireland (Artificial Eye) and Australia (Transmission Films). It was named best foreign-language film by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle.
Le bleu est une couleur chaude est une bande dessine franaise de Jul' Maroh, publie par Glnat en mars 2010[1]. Elle raconte une histoire d'amour entre deux femmes en France au tournant des annes 2000. Abdellatif Kechiche l'a adapte pour le cinma en 2013 sous le titre La Vie d'Adle, film qui a reu la Palme d'or au Festival de Cannes 2013.
Quelque temps aprs, Valentin emmne Clmentine dans des bars gays ; pendant la soire, un moment o Valentin la dlaisse un peu, la jeune fille entre dans un bar lesbien, et pour la deuxime fois elle rencontre la jeune fille aux cheveux bleus, toujours en couple avec une femme, Sabine. La jeune fille aux cheveux bleus vient lui parler et se prsente : c'est Emma. Les deux jeunes filles restent en contact et deviennent amies, mais Clmentine est amoureuse d'Emma. Clmentine doit affronter des ragots et des propos homophobes de la part de certaines de ses camarades de classe. Quelque temps aprs, alors que la relation entre Emma et Sabine s'est nettement dgrade (entre autres parce que Sabine la trompe souvent), Clmentine finit par craquer et avoue ses sentiments Emma, qui avoue son tour tre amoureuse d'elle. Les deux jeunes femmes entament alors une liaison. Sabine finit par le dcouvrir et se met en colre. Mais Emma n'ose pas encore quitter Sabine. Finalement, aprs une nime dispute, Emma trouve la force de rompre avec Sabine et se met en couple avec Clmentine. Une priode heureuse commence qui s'achve un soir, lorsque les deux jeunes femmes, qui passent la soire ensemble chez Clmentine, sont prises sur le fait par ses parents, dont la raction est violemment hostile : Clmentine est chasse de la maison en mme temps qu'Emma.
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