Blue Is the Warmest Color has been receiving rave reviews since it premiered at Cannes this past May and won the coveted Palme d'Or award, but, despite all that, the controversy surrounding the film hasn't ceased. Previously reported have been the crew's claims that there were tough working conditions on set (16-hour days reported as eight-hour days), and both stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos have stated that they'll never work with director Abdellatif Kechiche again.
Now, Kechiche himself has spoken out again to fire back at the criticisms—this time stating that he doesn't even want the movie to be released anymore, because he feels as if it's been "soiled" too much. French magazine Telerama released a snippet of their interview with him in which he makes the comments:
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So, yeah, it's pretty dramatic.
Kechiche also revealed that he nearly replaced star Léa Seydoux early on in the film, because he had trouble "unblocking" her emotional performance in the film. It's worth noting that Seydoux has been the most vocal about her difficult experience working on the film, and previously stated that Kechiche "burst into a rage" because she messed up one take after they'd done 100 of the same scene in a row. In the Telerama interview, Kechiche says he considered replacing Seydoux with Sara Forestier, or Mélanie Thierry.
Blue Is the Warmest Color is set to hit theaters on October 25th. If you're fluent in French—or fluent in using Google translator—you can check out Telerama's snipper of their interview with Kechiche here.
[via Indiewire]
