Photography Everett CollectionĪs of today, consensual same-sex relationships are considered unlawful in 73 jurisdictions across the world, with 12 of them imposing the death penalty for gay or lesbian sex. Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges in Boy Erased, 2018.
While Blue has since been critiqued for falling prey to a gratuitous ‘male gaze’, it also pushed queer cinema into the here-and-now, doing away with the notion that gay characters on screen have to be desexualised to be marketable. While the narrative is relatively straightforward, it is the voracious, unflinching way in which the more carnal aspects of the relationship are explored - with close-ups, hard cuts and voyeuristic, lingering shots. The film follows introvert Adèle, who begins to question her sexuality after she one day passes blue-haired Emma (played by Léa Seydoux) in the street, and instantly falls for her. Not so Abdellatif Kechiche’s Palme d’Or-winning, French romance Blue is the Warmest Colour. Many LGBTQ+ films looking to score a wide release tend to, for sadly obvious reasons, shy away from exploring love scenes in what might be considered an ‘explicit’ way, instead presenting a more sanitised version of same-sex relationships.
