Lesbian romance picks up top Cannes prize; Koreeda's film wins special jury award

@JeffLee she play a 15 year old, the actrice is 20 and remember it is a French movie

Plus seems that Cannes loves a gay story..

And your point is...?

You got a problem with homosexuality?

@sam

I wasn't having a go at you. Your arguments are perfectly reasonable (though I disagree with them). I was more concerned with the somewhat snide tone of AKBfan's comment, which came across as a bit of a sneer at people who promote the equality of gays and lesbians.

Well done Koreeda! I'm looking forward to seeing this film.

Mmmm.

Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest Love stories of all time, a cornerstone of Western Literature, studied by millions of school kids every year and is about a 13 year old girl.

A little perspective is important. The actress is clearly not a minor.

As AKBfan said 15 years old is under the legal age of consent and therefore deemed a child. Japan is almost notorious for saying 19 year olds who committ crimes cannot be prosecuted because they are still considered minors in the eyes of the law.

In many countries the age of consent is 14, in South Korea for e.g. it is even 13. So according to AKBfan those countries are uncivilised. In Japan it depends where you live. http://chartsbin.com/view/hxj

In many countries however it is normal to check an individual's maturity when prosecuting a crime even up to the age of 21. This can be considered a hypocrisy, since on the one hand you think they are mature enough for making their own dicisions about having sex but not mature enough for seeing the consequences when comitting a crime.

Nevertheless it would be interesting how Japan handles this movie, if it gets released there.

@lucabrasi. No problem; no offense taken from your post and not intended from my post!. I thought your question was fair and wanted to offer my opnion. Homophobia is still rampant but so is, I believe, the double standard mentioned in my previous post . Thanks, Sam.

luca Don;'t think AKB was being snide. It is true that several stories involving gay relationships have done well at Cannes. I kind of agree that it is a bit hypocritical of the media (including moviemakers) to sexualise 15 year olds (whether lesbians or otherwise) and then run a withhunt on old geezers who may or may not have indulged in sexual realtions with 15 year olds back in the 60's and 70's.

"Blue" that openly condones relationships between minors and adults.

You were there in Cannes and you've already seen it ? It's based on a comic (painfully intellectual) that tells the life of the girl from her teens till her 30's. That sounds terribly boring, Rohmer style.

Graphic sex scenes featuring a 15 year old?

Apparently some on this board would want to see that.

run a withhunt on old geezers who may or may not have indulged in sexual realtions with 15 year olds back in the 60's and 70's.

You're sure the old geezers in question are not hunted for being abusers ? We mean Polanski that drugged and raped a 13 yr old ? In France, in 2000, age of consent was 14, therefore a 15 yr old having a consensual relation with an adult was not illegal.

In the United States

And in some countries, they jail and execute people for having sex out of wedlock, so all the movies should be to the same standard ?

Not a child???? What planet are you living on????????

A 15 year old is a teenager and not a child. If you would call a 15 year old a child here, you would be in trouble.

@tony666. Thanks for the link to the chart! I found it to be interesting although I noticed in the comments section that one poster from Wisconsin said the age of consent is 18 while the chart states that the age of consent is 16. I asked a few of my friends in Hokkaido where I live and they said they had ever heard of a 13 year old being able to give consent. Of course this does not constitute proof of anything, just a desire to learn more. I plan on visiting the local police station tomorrow to find out more (more out of curiosity than anything else). I agree with you that it will be interesting to see how Japan handles the movie if it is even released here. Assuming it is you can bet it will be heavily censored.

And on the same weekend that massive protests were held in France against gay mariage laws being passed. The irony.

Here you a movie that could be considered both child porn and pedaphilia that is winning a major award. It must be nice to have such political power.

Since she is supposed to be 15 it has nothing to do with child porn/pedaphilia. Also a 15 year old is not a child anyway!

Tony 666 said: Also a 15 year old is not a child anyway!

Not a child???? What planet are you living on????????

good point AKBfan

"You got a problem with homosexuality?" Not at all. I support homosexual marriage and such couples to have the same rights and privileges that hetereo sexual couples. But I do have a problem with the double standard that allows a movie like "Leon" to be criticized for glamourizing a non-existent sexual relationship between an older man (Jean Reno) and a minor (Natalie Portman) despite not one sexual scene or dialogue and another movie like "Blue" that openly condones relationships between minors and adults.

"The three-hour film caught headlines for its lengthy, graphic sex scenes, but bewitched festival goers with its heartbreaking coming of age story." Porn for the posh?

I have to agree with samwatters, I don't like how lucabrasi snapped so suddenly to the hot topic gay rights discussion without going into the context of the relationship aside from that. I find that sure, 15 year olds are frequently sexually active, and (obviously) that would happen with those of the same age or older most likely. But in movies I don't think it's right to include overexposed dramatic sexually explicit scenes for crowds to salivate over.

In fact, "The Reader " won several Oscars and other awards. So, what we have is the endearing of sexual relationships with minors by film awards while paedophilia is outlawed, and rightly so, and deemed abhorrent by the same media lauding such films.

"And in some countries..."

But in most countries, lots of older people like me dream often of when we were 15, and the things that didn't happen but we wished that had. Is that pedaphilia or just nostalgia?

"Also a 15 year old is not a child anyway!" @tony666. Go pick up a 15-year-old (high school) girl take her to a love hotel and see what happens. Let me know how the food is in prison.

"Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest Love stories of all time, a cornerstone of Western Literature, studied by millions of school kids every year and is about a 13 year old girl." @Tamarama. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare but I missed the "sexually graphic" part. Perhaps you could tell the scene in which I might find it.

"A 15 year old is a teenager and not a child. If you would call a 15 year old a child here, you would be in trouble." @tony666. I don't think so. As AKBfan said 15 years old is under the legal age of consent and therefore deemed a child. Japan is almost notorious for saying 19 year olds who committ crimes cannot be prosecuted because they are still considered minors in the eyes of the law. If you or anyone else tried to seduce a 15 year old student, you would find yourself in legal trouble tute-sweet and that's the double standard we're trying to point out; if I made a indie called "woman on girl" and used adult actresses portraying minors, you can be the police would come calling and rightfully so, but when a group of socialites do it, well, then it's art. But I digress; a 15 year old is still a child in the eyes of a law. Whether "child" and "minor" are the same or not could be debated but that's not really the point.

I am so looking forward to seeing this film, Blue is the warmest color. The other day I saw this actress on the cover of Figaro and she had blue hair for this film. She looked so beautiful I immidiately fall in love with her and bought the magazine. Can't wait!

Just what is needed; girl-on-girl explicit action glorified and "normalized" on the big screen. And awarded a film honor. Did "The Reader" get such a reward?

Oh here we go......The Cannes Film Festival...The 1% flaunting their money and twisted values in front of the rest of the 99!

15 year old is under the legal age of consent and therefore a child in most civilised countries. Yes, Polanski was hounded and also many of the current paedo witchhunt victims are from a media/entertainment background. Nevertheless it is still hypocritical for movies that promote? glorify? romanticise? such relationships to be hailed as artistic masterpieces.

And the Cannes like movies about same sex relationships was not meant to be snide. just that the judges seem to appreciate the extra frisson of "danger" implied in such. although they didn't go for Liberace - probabaly snobbish about it being made by a TV channel.

Graphic sex scenes featuring a 15 year old?

@JeffLee. I thought the same thing. In the United States boys containing semi-nude pictures of their high school girlfriends are arrested for possession of child pornography. Here you a movie that could be considered both child porn and pedaphilia that is winning a major award. It must be nice to have such political power.

Even if she only plays a 15year old, not sure that makes it right. People are being hounded (rightly) in the UK at the moment for thus stuff. Plus seems that Cannes loves a gay story..