The colorful, electrifying romance that took the Cannes Film Festival by storm courageously dives into a young woman’s experiences of first love and sexual awakening. “Blue Is the Warmest Color” stars the remarkable newcomer Adele Excharpoulos as a high schooler who, much to her own surprise, plunges into a thrilling relationship with a female twentysomething art student, played by Lea Seydoux. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, this finely detailed, intimate epic sensitively renders the erotic abandon of youth. It has captivated international audiences and, much like the films of John Cassavetes, is an epic of emotional transformation that pulses with gestures, embraces, furtive exchanges, and arias of joy and devastation. It is a profoundly moving hymn to both love and life. Based on Julie Maroh’s graphic novel. Extras: Trailer and TV spot, a booklet featuring an essay by critic B. Ruby Rich. Vitals: Director: Abdellatif Kechiche. Stars: Adele Excharpoulos, Lea Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche, Aurelien Recoing, Catherine Salee. 2013, CC, MPAA rating: NC-17, 179 min., Drama, Box office gross: $1.152 million, The Criterion Collection.