Monday Movie Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Hi friends! I was going to come back with another review of a so bad it’s good movie, but then I saw they were releasing Portrait of a Lady on Fire on Hulu and I jumped at the excuse to watch an actual good movie instead. I had been planning on seeing this one in the theaters, I even had my ticket reserved, right before the whole lockdown deal went into effect. So I was stoked I could see this one in the comfort of my own home.
Marianne (Noemie Merlant) is a portrait artist living in France at the end of the 18th century. She is hired to travel to an island and paint a portrait of a young woman so the portrait can be sent to her potential husband. Heloise (Adele Haenel) has no desire to be married and refused to sit for the previous artist. So Heloise’s mother brings Marianne to the island under the guise of her being a companion and chaperone and asks her to paint the portrait without Heloise actually sitting for her. Some very random events, and some pretty poignant events, happen during the course of Marianne’s stay, and she and Heloise end up falling in love. Spoiler alert: there is no HEA here, Marianne and Heloise do not end up together.
First and foremost, in case you aren’t already aware, the movie is in French so prepare for subtitles. Subtitles don’t bother me since I always have the captions on anyway, but I know not everyone is into that. There’s a lot to love about this movie. The performances. The acting and writing (both by Celine Sciamma). The cinematography is gorgeous. There’s some truly interesting moments explored in the story, including an 18th century abortion, which the maid Sophie (Luana Bajrami) first tries to bring on herself, but then sees a midwife for. And of course, there’s the tragic love story of two women who want to be together but can’t because women weren’t allowed to make their own choices in the 1700’s.
My only real complaint was the pacing was a little slow at times. I find that to be the case with a lot of French movies, everything just moves at a slower pace than I’m used to. It didn’t make me enjoy the film any less, but there were definitely times when my attention waned a little. And of course, I want a happy ending. Always. But even without love conquering all, the movie was gorgeous to watch and a pretty brilliant piece of storytelling.
Overall Grade: A
