3/14/2023 0 Comments Portrait of a lady on fire![]() They might control women’s destiny, but the inner lives of Sciamma’s characters are their own. The world Sciamma conjures up here is practically devoid of men. For highborn girls of the period, it was often either an arranged marriage or the convent. Any wonder that proud, rebellious Heloise is resistant? It’s strongly implied by a maidservant (Luàna Bajrami) that Heloise’s sister, possibly faced with a similar fate, preferred to hurl herself off the cliffs. The portrait is intended to entice an anonymous Milanese nobleman into matrimony. A perverse caveat is attached: Heloise refuses to sit for the portrait and Marianne, forced to pose as a lady’s companion, must create a likeness based on memory. (In interviews, Sciamma has called this “the Titanic structure.”) Several years in the past Marianne was commissioned by an Italian countess (Valeria Golino) to paint the portrait of her daughter Heloise (Adèle Haenel). When a student inquires about Marianne’s canvas titled Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the memory of an earlier passion floods back. Marianne, a painter (Noémie Merlant, superb), is first glimpsed teaching in an art school. Her first period piece, Portrait is a masterly work of historical realism done in high-flying poetic style.Ī standout at this year’s New York Film Festival, the film takes the form of an extended flashback, framed by a flash forward at the end to a final bittersweet coda. Director Céline Sciamma, one of many women filmmakers on the rise in France, has won a following for such contemporary coming-of-agers as Water Lilies and Tomboy. ![]() Set during the 18th century in Quiberon on Brittany’s Cote Sauvage or Wild Coast, the narrative interweaves the demands of art with a study in sexual passion that flowers in the crannies of a rigidly patriarchal culture. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a gripping slow-burn of a film about an enduring love between two women. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel in a scene from “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” Screening at the IFFBoston Fall Focus on November 3. ![]() Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma. With contemporary themes in period dress, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE is one of the greatest love stories ever told.Portrait is a masterly work of historical realism - about an enduring love between two women - done in high-flying poetic style. To watch Marianne and Héloïse fall in love is to see love itself invented onscreen. Noémie and Adèle Haenel turn the subtle act of looking into a dangerous, engrossing thrill, crafting the most breathtaking and elegant performances of the year. Winner of a coveted Cannes prize and one of the best reviewed films of the year, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE solidifies Céline Sciamma as one of the most exciting filmmakers working in the world today. Héloïse's portrait soon becomes a collaborative act of and testament to their love. As the two women orbit one another, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse’s first moments of freedom. Because she is a reluctant bride-to-be, Marianne arrives under the guise of companionship, observing Héloïse by day and secretly painting her by firelight at night. Marianne is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |