- Title: FRANCE: Film 'La vie d'Adele Chapitre 1 & 2' wins Palme d'Or
- Date: 27th May 2013
- Summary: (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) END OF NEWS CONFERENCE EXARCHOPOULOS AND SEYDOUX POSING KECHICHE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS JURY MEMBER NAOMI KAWASE AND HEAD OF THE JURY STEVEN SPIELBERG HEADING TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE JURY STEVEN SPIELBERG SAYING: "We were absolutely spellbound by the brilliance of the performances of those two amazing actresses and all the cast and especially the way the director observed his players, the way he just let the characters breathe. The spaces were as important as what they said, as what they weren't saying and we just all found that it was a profound love story and whether or not it plays in the United States that was not a criteria for any of our choices. We didn't think about how it was going to play, we just were really happy that somebody had the courage to tell the story the way they told it." EXARCHOPOULOS AND SEYDOUX PEOPLE APPLAUDING KECHICHE, SEYDOUX AND EXARCHOPOULOS EXARCHOPOULOS PALME D'OR AWARD KEHICHE AND SEYDOUX GIVING AN INTERVIEW SEYDOUX [NOTE STRONG LANGUAGE] SEYDOUX AND EXARCHOPOULOS DURING INTERVIEW, EXARCHOPOULOS REALISING THE PALME D'OR IS THE TOP AWARD IN CANNES AND REJOICING
- Embargoed: 11th June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA3JCL0FUH31PYVTWQ3HOA8NT8
- Story Text: An intimate lesbian love story by French director Abdellatif Kechiche won the top prize in Cannes on Sunday (May 26), as protesters against same-sex marriage took to the streets in Paris.
"La Vie d'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2" (Blue is the Warmest Colour) was chosen from a field of 20 films exploring sex, violence and emotional anguish which were vying for the Palme d'Or, one of the most coveted film awards after the Oscars.
Critics picked the three-hour film as a possible winner at the 66th Cannes festival, but wondered if its explicit lesbian sex scenes - one lasting up to 10 minutes - would deter the jury deciding the awards led by U.S. filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
In an unusual move, Spielberg said the award would be shared between Kechiche and his two lead actresses Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux as they were central to the film's success.
Kechiche said he believed the success of a film was to be shared with all the team.
"I always say that a film, or rather when you succeed in a film, you succeed together and when you fail, you fail together," he said at a news conference after the closing ceremony.
Spielberg said the jury had been amazed with the performance of the actresses and of the director.
"We were absolutely spellbound by the brilliance of the performances of those two amazing actresses and all the cast and especially the way the director observed his players, the way he just let the characters breathe. The spaces were as important as what they said, as what they weren't saying and we just all found that it was a profound love story and whether or not it plays in the United States that was not a criteria for any of our choices. We didn't think about how it was going to play, we just were really happy that somebody had the courage to tell the story the way they told it," he said.
The actresses and the director later joined a party in their honour on a beach in Cannes.
"La Vie d'Adele" is an emotional tale of love and sexuality centred on 15-year-old Adele (Exarchopoulos) and her lover Emma (Seydoux) that follows the course of their tumultuous relationship. It's the first French film to win the top prize in Cannes since 2008. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None