In the months following Cannes and its Palme D’Or shared by both director and lead actresses, Abdellatif Kechiche‘s romance “Blue Is The Warmest Color” has weathered a host of controversial interjections, from allegations of crew exploitation to author Julie Maroh‘s opinions on the adaptation of her graphic novel. Still, talk of awards season love has never left the conversation (our review here), but now the film’s French distributor has squashed that possibility, at least in terms of Oscar gold.
It’s been commonplace for films that win the Palme D’Or to enter the Oscar race under their country’s banner — think last year’s Michael Haneke film “Amour,” or France’s last follow-through entry, “The Class.” But in a Cannes follow-up by Deadline with Vincent Maraval of Wild Bunch Pictures (who will distribute the film in France), that will not be the case here.
Why? Simple, and “stupid,” says Maraval of the French Oscar rep requirement that a film must be released before September 30th for consideration, while ‘Blue’ is set for release in October. Maraval believes the move will help the picture in the end; indeed, critical reaction at Cannes has sustained the buzz surrounding the film, but will that extend to international audiences showing up?
Sundance Selects plan to release ‘Blue’ stateside later this year in unrated form, while France is likely to pass it uncut with a 12 rating, because as Maraval says, “There are only positive values and love in the film, no violence or drugs.”