7) Snowpiercer
We really should have expected 2013’s Snowpiercer to be based on a comic book, as it starred the comic book movie king Chris Evans in the lead – he of Captain America and Fantastic Four fame, but also lesser known comic adaptations Push and The Losers.
Snowpiercer is actually an adaptation of French graphic novel Le Transperceneige (‘The Snow-Piercer’) which, like the film, focuses on a world-spanning train which houses the last vestiges of humanity after most have been killed in a new Ice Age. Despite starring Evans and featuring the likes of Tilda Swinton and John Hurt in supporting roles, Snowpiercer mostly slipped under the radar but, if you haven’t seen it, it is well worth a watch.
6) Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Another film based on a French graphic novel from 2013 was Blue is the Warmest Colour, a French language romantic drama about a shy teenage girl (Adele Exarchopoulos) who falls for a blue-haired stranger, played by Lea Seydoux of Inglorious Basterds and SPECTRE fame.
The film is an adaptation of Le bleu est une couleur chaude (originally published as Blue Angel), but the novel’s author Julie Maroh was a vocal dissenter of the film. She particularly disagreed with the film’s sex scenes, saying: “as a feminist and lesbian spectator, I cannot endorse the direction [Abdellatif] Kechiche took on these matters.”
For everyone else, Blue is the Warmest Colour was seen as a tender, emotional love story which often features in ‘foreign films you need to watch’ lists.