Szlia
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Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival for the movie and its two lead actresses (NB: Spielberg was the president of the jury).
First, let's not sugarcoat it: it's a 3 hours long movie in french about a teenage girl who falls in love with another girl slightly older than her and it is rated NC-17 (reason for an only limited US release) because of several love scenes that are more explicit than one would expect and also surprisingly long.
The film is not without flaws (a big discourse problem, some minor plot problems, some minor acting problems), but it is pretty stunning. Kechiche, the director, is known to be a nightmare to work with, shooting things over and over and he ended with 250 hours of rushes (with 15 deemed 'usable' by him) for what amounts to a very simple, almost minimalistic coming of age story. The fruits of this exigence are extraordinary performances by the two lead actresses (not only in the bravery of their physical engagement, but also in the amazing evolution of the main character who literally grows in front of us as the story spans several year) and almost constant miraculous film-making that captures the smallest glances, the smallest gestures to enrich each scene with these details.
It is important to note that this not really a movie about homosexuality, but more about love, about feeling comfortable in one's place, about finding what you want out of life, about synchronizing what you want for yourself and what your partner wishes for yourself.
Three stars out of four.
PS: If you go with a date, expect to be a bit uncomfortable after 30sec of the first lesbian sex scene, so hold on tight because it lasts another five and a half minutes!
