This French movie from 2013 won all sorts of awards at Cannes. It's the story of a young woman as she passes from late childhood (15) to early adulthood (21). She falls in love with another woman, they have a torrid relationship, it ends badly. The story really isn't a reason to watch the movie, it's not original and it's not uncommon. It is beautifully shot and acted though.
The movie has very European sensibilities. Unlike American films, there are long stretches of quiet in the movie -- shots of Adele sleeping, or sitting on a bench in the park. There is a stillness at the center of this movie, a sense that time stretches out into infinity when you're eighteen. Adele has adventures, Adele has relationships, Adele goes to work, Adele comes home. Her life is what happens during these days, yet she is waiting for her life to begin. She is a woman who isn't sure what she wants or where her life is going, but she is waiting for inspiration.
Also very European, the director does not shy away from showing Adele's relationships in explicit manner. It's part of life, I always thought it was chickenshit the way American film and TV fades to black whenever a character goes in the bedroom. It's just part of her life. It's not the central point of the movie.
It's a French movie, filmed in France, Belgium and Italy but it could just as easily have been Swedish or Swiss. Maybe not English or German.
That age is such of hurricane of discovery, confusion and anticipation.
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