“Blue Is The Warmest Color” goes the title of the film, but it seems it’s also the bitterest. While the epic lesbian relationship drama has been earning rave reviews (here’s ours) ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or in the process, it has also earned its share of harsh words from nearly everyone involved. There have been allegations from the crew over reportedly tough working conditions, graphic novel author Julie Maroh has shared her concerns on the adaptation of her work, while the lead actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos have publicly stated they’ll never work with director Abdellatif Kechiche again. The director didn’t waste time firing back, and he continues not to mince any words about everything that has happened since Cannes.
French magazine Telerama has shared a small portion of a full interview with Kechiche they’ll be running later this week, and needless to say, it’s provocative stuff. “According to me, the film shouldn’t be released, it has been soiled too much,” he stated. “The Palme d’Or had been a brief moment of happiness; then I’ve felt humiliated, dishonored, I felt rejected, I live it like I’m cursed.”
But it’s Seydoux (who has also been the most outspoken about her difficulties on the film) that he singles out. Claiming that her interviews have taken away both from the film itself and the performance of her co-star Exarchopoulos, Kechiche claims that Seydoux came to him because she had trouble being natural in films. The director then goes on say he had trouble “unblocking” her, and even suggested to Seydoux as early as twenty days into the production that she leave the film. Kechiche says he was eyeing either Sara Forestier (“Gainsbourg,” “Wild Grass“) or Melanie Thierry (“The Zero Theorem,” “The Princess Of Montpensier“) as potential replacements, but ultimately he stuck with Seydoux.
Either way, the movie is being released, despite the war of words happening between the director and the actresses. “Blue Is The Warmest Color” arrives on October 25th.