Crenshaw's Books & Decks

I had many expectations about this book after learning that the movie based on it had won the Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. As  usually happens, high expectations aren't always matched.

"Le bleu est une couleur chaude" (Blue is a Warm Colour, funnily translated as Blue is the Warmest Colour) is the first major work by French graphic artist Julie Maroh. The book narrates the sexual awakening of Clementine, her coming to terms with being a lesbian, and her relationship with Emma. This is a posthumus story, as the book starts from the ending with a flashback narration of the love story as told by Clementine herself in her blue diary.

The artwork is wonderful. The use of colour is just another character in the story, if that can be said, because it gives the book its melancholic mood. Sepia tones are used in the flashback, only highlighted by Clementine's blue diary and Emma's haircut.  The story told in the present is painted in a mix of pastel blues, greens and ochres. Maroh has a great eye for detail and her depiction of the city's streets, parks and skyline, as well as the beach scenes, are truly beautiful.  She uses a mix of watercolour, pencil and mixed media to create precious images. 

I found the narrative simple, realistic and believable, but also a bit over-melodramatic at times. I think the story reflects well the hurdles that gay people find when they discover they are gay, first, and when they come out of the closet, then, having to deal with their not-always-accepting friends and families. I think the book also succeeds at depicting gay people as individuals, not as bunch of people who act or think the same, or who reacts to their own sexuality in the same way. As the character says:

 "For Emma, her sexuality is something that draws her to others, a social end political thing. For me, it's the most intimate thing there is". p. 131.

I have gay friends, and all of them fall on Clem's side. On the other hand, the book is unbalanced, because most of the story focuses in Cleme's teens years, while her adult life with Emma is barely sketched. This being the case, the ending feels hurried as we don't know why Clementine is feeling alienated from Emma, what is going on in her head for her to be deluded and act the way she acts.  

The book has explicit sex scenes.