Portrait of a Lady on Fire is so beautiful, it’s like a painting in itself.
This French film tells the story of Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a young artist commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). The painting is to be sent to Héloïse’s future husband in Milan but there’s a problem. Héloïse refuses to sit for a portrait out of solidarity with her late sister, who was supposed to marry that same man but jumped off a cliff instead.
Héloïse’s mother hires Marianne but tells her she must not let her daughter know she will be painting her. Rather, she will be introduced as a companion who is there to keep her company and get her mind off her sadness. Marianne will have to paint the portrait secretly.
Of course, none of this works according to plan, especially when Marianne and Héloïse start to develop feelings for each other.
Writer/director Céline Sciamma has created a love story that is so real yet refreshingly free of melodrama. It matter-of-factly addresses the constraints on and expectations of women in pre-Revolutionary France, revealing the distinctions between the classes and making it clear that, in some ways, things haven’t changed that much.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is as much a portrait of the lady who painted it — and also the lady who wrote and directed it. It is a celebration of women artists, and the chemistry between the two leads is palpable even from just a gaze. You can’t help believing that a male artist would never have captured Héloïse so knowingly — and that a male writer/director wouldn’t have captured the lovers’ feelings so sensitively.
The movie is already an awards season favorite, and it deserves every accolade. The cinematography is so gorgeous, you could turn almost any frame into a still shot and want to hang it on a museum wall.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a small masterpiece.
Leave a Reply