150 Word Review: 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire'(2019)
Is this burning an eternal flame?
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is an intense, serene, French-language "I love you but we musn't” queer costume drama. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, it stars Noémie Merlant as an artist hired to paint the portrait of a betrothed lady, played by Adèle Haenel, who will not pose. The movie's action takes place on a windswept island in a creaky old house with warm bones. Very goth.
Both women are trapped in a man’s world: Merlant’s talent will never be fully appreciated because she is a woman, and Haenel is doomed to marry a man she barely knows. The movie takes its sweet time watching them quietly fall in love. And when they do, it is both tender and passionate. The sex scenes are shockingly intimate, as if we're not supposed to be watching.
The scenes where Merlant's character paints are oddly soothing, like ASMR for the eyeballs.
In my French top 10.
Great review! This is one of my all time favorites. Imo the truest depiction of what falling in love feels like that has ever been put to film.