The lesbian love story Blue is the
Warmest Colour: The Life of Adele won the Palme d'Or Sunday at
the 66th annual Cannes Film Festival in France.
The film, based on the French graphic
novel Le Bleu est un Couleur Chaude (Blue is a Warm Colour) by
Julie Maroh, was directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and stars Adele
Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux.
Exarchopoulos stars in the French film
as a 15-year-old girl who is certain girls must date boys. Her life
is transformed when she meets and falls in love with an older woman,
played by Seydoux.
The jury awarded the prize not just to
the film's director but also to its two stars. Steven Spielberg, the
head of the jury, announced the unusual move from the stage.
“The film had a beautiful French
youth that I discovered during the long time filming the movie,”
the Tunisian-born director said on Sunday. “It taught me a lot
about the spirit of freedom.”
“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 in the
narrative, on the storytelling. He let the scenes play as long as
scenes play in real life.”
The film had previously received wide
attention due to its graphic sex scenes.