Publication of graphic novel's English version brought forward in wake of film version's film festival triumph
Small Canadian publisher Arsenal Pulp Press is pushing forward publication of its English translation of French graphic novel Le bleu est une couleur chaude following the triumph of the film version of the story at Cannes this weekend – the first adaptation of a comic ever to take the top prize at the film festival.
The story of a passionate lesbian romance, Julie Maroh's graphic novel was published by the Belgian graphic novel press Glénat in 2010. An English language version, titled Blue Angel, was originally due out in November, but after the film adaptation Blue is the Warmest Colour won the Palme d'Or in Cannes on Sunday, Arsenal Pulp is now readying the translation for publication in September.
"[We] are indeed expecting lots of interest," said publisher Brian Lam. "We were first approached by the agent of the original publisher Glénat a little over a year ago; she thought we would be interested in it given our interest in LGBT and graphic novel titles. We appraised it and found it to be a profoundly moving coming-of-age story with beautiful artwork; at the time, we didn't know a film was involved."
Arsenal Pulp signed the book up in October 2012. "By then, we were told the film was in production and that the producers hoped to submit it for consideration at Cannes. We were thrilled but not entirely optimistic; after all, who doesn't want to have their film at Cannes?" said Lam. "We were amazed, then, when at the end of April we learned that the film was accepted into the official competition, only to have word-of-mouth quickly build, leading to the stunning Palme d'Or win last Sunday."
Associate publisher Robert Ballantyne added: "We are thrilled for the filmmakers, for Julie and her French publisher, and very excited for the impact this great story will have for LGBT culture and politics wherever it appears. It is a graphic novel worthy of the highest praise and broad translation."
Maroh herself wrote on her website that she was "absolutely overwhelmed, amazed, and grateful" for the "wonderful and breathtaking" win in Cannes. "Last night I realised this is the first time in cinema's history that a comic book had inspired a Palme d'Or movie and this idea petrified me," she wrote. "It's a lot to carry."
When writing the graphic novel, said Maroh, she didn't set out to "make a book in order to preach to the choir, nor only for lesbians". "Since the beginning my wish was to catch the attention of those who had no clue, had the wrong picture, based on false ideas, hated me/us," she said. "I'd like that myself, those that I love, and all the others, would no longer be insulted, rejected, beaten up, raped, murdered … because of our differences. Everyone had the opportunity to interpret and identify freely with the book, but I really wanted to clarify my intention with it, once again. But it also served to tell a story of how a romantic encounter happens, how a love story builds, collapses, and what remains of the love that was awoken after a breakup, a mourning, a death. This is what [film-maker Abdellatif Kechiche] was interested in. Neither of us had a militantly activist intent."
Maroh did, however, criticise the film's explicit sex scenes, saying they brought to mind "a brutal and surgical display, exuberant and cold, of so-called lesbian sex, which turned into porn, and made me feel very ill at ease … I lost the control of my book as soon as I gave it away to be read. It's an object meant to be handled, felt, interpreted."
via Books: Fiction | guardian.co.uk
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