The movie is slow but told with flashbacks and short vignettes - each of which adds another piece to the puzzle. Think of this as a jigsaw puzzle you are sort of interested in but will continue to work on it until it is done. Don't give the outcome too much thought althought I did. Even in the legal system of France, there would be insufficient evidence to prosecute the main characters and there is someone else who has much clearer motive and means yet is not under investigation. It's a short film but worth watching. Especially with people who like to talk about "who dun it" books and movies.

The story unravels brilliantly but the ending is delivered poor. Well worth a watch though.

Inconsequential self important Gone Girl lite

Kept waiting for a surprise ending that never happened. So stop watching if that's what you are hoping for to save this movie. Wasted my hour and 15 minutes.

Eh. Dumb ending. Dumb sex scenes. Cinematography and story could have been better. Alternated too much.

A good French film about two lovers and a trial for their crimes.

Intriguing, moody, and just so French.

Mathieu Amalric applies a methodically ambiguous study of an erotic affair that pushes one (or both) lovers too far. The truly interesting aspect is that this is a clever mystery that refuses to follow the typical cinematic rules. This may annoy some viewers, but I found it refreshing and interesting.

u really have to pay attention in this French suspenser to figure out WTf is going on.

Despite the orgasmic moans and gasps in the opening frames, the sex although plentiful is understated and the nudity discreet. This film blends the qualities of classic cinema - the balletic structures of Jean Renoir; the melodrama and angst, and the anti-heroine, of the Nouvelle Vague; and the elegant twists of Hitchcock. The soundtrack of piano solo and strings recalls the accompaniment to early films. The story is of a dark side to the cinq à sept, the reputed sport of adultery, French style. Amalric has perfected the role of the passive lover, forced on his character by terrible circumstance in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and ingrained here willingly in the psychology of the shivering Julien. Julien's paramour Mme Despierre dominates him. Of course it had to be this woman who is venal and possessive. The film unfortunately reverts to sexist stereotypes - was Simenon that simplistic? The screenplay defends vigorously the miserable wife, who seems determined to keep suffering in silence. Julien is cast as victim - his blame translates into charm. It is an old fashioned formula: the madonna, the whore, and the boy-man to be indulged. Must we have this, now that we also have existentialism and feminism? Still, women will brush aside the standard pattern, which is easy enough to put up with when laced with painterly cinematography, French style and some picturesque travelogue. The film will no doubt disappoint those hoping for pornography; you can see who they are when the lights come on, because they look embarrassed. This is not blue; rather more like a conventional pastel.

nothing new....below average movie on such common topic

It winds up being more interesting than the first half sets it up to be, but there are still stylistic touches that are just inexcusable in a 21st century film that aims to be taken seriously.

I'm not good at guessing.

A terrific film, with echoes on the man's side from "The Stranger," but full of other kinds of ambiguities as well. Very much for grown-ups.

Mathieu Amalric, the director and lead actor, certainly deserves the credit of the critics for this well-choreographed film mystery that in retrospect is reminiscent of some of the elements of Flaubert's Madame Bovary. It's unusual for a film to plop its audience right in the middle of something that is mundane yet sinister but that is one of the praiseworthy elements of this film. This approach incorporates an important sense of reality and allows the viewer to make sense of the situation for himself rather than have the director and screenwriter lead the audience by the hand. That Amalric was able to pull this off successfully is a tribute to his skill as a director and screenwriter. Unfortunately, my attention was not riveted to the screen in part due to the overly comfortable seating and having to read the subtitles which is my excuse for only three and one-half stars with apologies to the director.

http://www.clevelandmovieblog.com/2014/10/the-blue-room-opens-in-cleveland.html

MOVIE MURDER MOST FOUL: My take on the movies The Judge and The Blue Room http://ow.ly/D3ePU

Brilliant filmmaking. Very French. Though some attention to detail lacking.

The Blue Room is beautifully acted and Mathieu Amalric delivers another of his cinematographic jewels. winner of cannes 2014 'un certain regard' prize, almaric's adaptation of georges simenon's novel was a highpoint of that festival and is a tremendous piece of cinema. a man and a woman, secretly in love, alone in a room. they desire each other, want each other, and even bite each other. In the afterglow, they share a few sweet nothings. at least the man seemed to believe they were nothing. now under investigation by the police and the courts, what is he accused of? the most original and stunning adaptation of simenon since béla tarr's 'a londoni férfi,' this is not only an erotique thriller but moves beyond that genre into the realms of the psychosexual, ontological and epistemological. with the sad passing of claude chabrol, it is good to know that someone who understands simenon's particular vernacular is alive and well in france continuning adaptations of simenon that can only be termed as sueurs froides.

So boring I had to turn it off