Following pressure from a Catholic pressure group, a French judge has cancelled the under-12 classification of Cannes d’Or winner Blue is the Warmest Color, fueling worries of a conservative backlash in France.

The film includes “realistic sex scenes likely to offend the sensibilities of a young audience,” according to the Paris court. The lesbian love tale starring Léa Seydoux (Spectre) was initially awarded a -12 rating, indicating that anybody above the age of 12 could watch it.

The court also ordered Fleur Pellerin, the French Minister of Culture and Communications, to re-examine the categorization within two months.

This current dispute was sparked by Promouvoir, a conservative values organization that has been increasingly requesting that the Administrative Court of Paris overturn ratings that it considers to be unsuitable. Gaspar Noé’s Love, Virginie Despentes’ Baise-Moi, Universal’s Fifty Shades Of Grey, and Lars von Trier’s two Nymphomaniac flicks were among the other films targeted. Blue’s visa was originally revoked by the organization in September 2014.

Not only was the Love reclassification a setback for creative freedom, but it also cost distributor Wild Bunch Distribution money.

The ARP, a powerful group of writers, directors, and producers, is furious over the court’s judgment. Members were “stupefied” that the court agreed with the “shameful arguments” of a “decidedly obscurantist association,” according to a statement.

The next stage will be for the Classification Commission to reconsider its classification decision — Promouvoir wants it raised to -18 — but the Culture Minister has warned ARP that there will be an appeal. In principle, the economic impact is negligible in this case. If the rating changes, it will have to update across all platforms where the film is promoted. It’s been about two years since it was released in cinemas, so DVD, VOD, and other options are available. It would also imply that it would be unavailable for viewing at specific times on television.

‘Blue Is The Warmest Color’ Director says it ‘Shouldn’t Be Released’

Sep 24, 2013

Abdellatif Kechiche, the director of Blue Is the Warmest Color, acknowledges in a new interview that winning the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival was merely a “brief moment of happiness.” He now feels the movie should not be distributed at all.

“According to me, the film shouldn’t be released. It has been soiled too much,” Kechiche told Telerama, a French magazine. “The Palme d’Or had been a brief moment of happiness; then I’ve felt humiliated, dishonored, I felt rejected, I live it like I’m cursed.”

Kechiche also said that he was close to replacing star Léa Seydoux early in the film because he couldn’t “unblock” her emotional performance. It’s worth mentioning that Seydoux has been the most outspoken about her tough time on the set, claiming that Kechiche “burst into a rage” when she botched up one take after they’d done 100 of the same sequence in a succession. Kechiche states in a Telerama interview that he pondered replacing Seydoux with Sara Forestier or Mélanie Thierry.

From the initial showing, a long sex scene between actors Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos was scrutinized. Exarchopoulos was outspoken about her experience filming the sequence during the Toronto International Film Festival, causing a storm of criticism.

“He warned us that we had to trust him — blind trust — and give a lot of ourselves,” Exarchopoulos stated during a news conference in early September. “He was making a movie about passion, so he wanted to have sex scenes, but without choreography — more like special sex scenes.”

Kechiche is now concerned that a narrative of his three-hour love drama has been constructed that hinders viewers from “entering the room with a clean heart and a watchful eye.” Anyone who has heard the buzz will find it difficult to ignore. “In advance, they will ask: ‘Did this man not harass the girls? Did they not cherish [the experience], too, and they do not dare say it?” he tells the magazine.

The film Blue Is the Warmest Color will be released on October 25th.