Talking a little more about the sexuality in Blue Is The Warmest Colour: I’ve read a couple of pieces that see it as more of a stark portrayal than made with a specific erotic appeal. There’s an argument, probably, that the scenes that garnered the film an NC-17 in the US (and an 18 here) are there to show the evolution of the relationship between Adele and Emma in a natural way, rather than a whirlwind montage of billowing curtains and a couple of boob shots.
I’m not sure how much I buy this. The camera does linger a little long on the actresses’ butts, but it does the same for their faces, and gets remarkably close with skin in general - even in a non-sexual context, there’s a textural, hyper-physical palette here that’s designed to intoxicate. It’s possible that those lingering ass shots are more to do with the fact of what an ass is - a comparatively large area of a physical body to concentrate on - but that’s only a possible interpretation, not an undeniable takeaway.
One thing I would argue here is that this film definitely doesn’t deserve such a high age certificate. In France, the movie received a 12 rating. I’m not sure I agree with that, necessarily, but my argument against that would be due to the amount of emotional distress portrayed in this film; it is devastating at times, and I’d want someone watching it to be able to process it maturely. But there are films here with 12 certificates where characters are beheaded, or gushing blood, and there is none of that in this film. Sex, yes. Graphic sex, maybe, though the shots of genitalia are fleeting at best.
I suspect what gave the film an 18 here was the fact that in one scene, we see a character with an erection (blink and you’ll miss it) and a hard cock on screen breaks one of the cardinal rules of the BBFC. One wonders how those men (and the majority of BBFC censors are men) fuck their wives. Limply, I suppose.
It makes you wonder about the repression of sexual desire in cinema, and how twisted it is - pornified or not, this is still a remarkably frank portrayal, and far more emotionally honest than any potential Hollywoodised version. In this country, the age of consent is 16, with a strong recommendation by the Crown court to not penalise two minors engaged in consensual sexual activity; inevitably, that means that there are plenty of 14- and 15-year-olds who have both the physical and emotional capacity to fuck, but not the ability to (legally) see the same act performed by others, simulated or otherwise. It’s backwards. Even in the US, where the age of consent is (mostly, and ridiculously) 18, sex is far more taboo than violence.
Ah well. Blame the Christians, I guess.