PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
Drama/History/Romance – 2019 – France – 119 Minutes – Neon – In French & Italian with English Subtitles – Unrated
France, 1760. Marianne is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. 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. As the two women orbit one another, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse’s first moments of freedom. Héloïse’s portrait soon becomes a collaborative act of and testament to their love.
Written & Directed by Céline Sciamma
Starring Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Valeria Golino, Luana Bajrami
Razor-sharp and shatteringly romantic … as perfect a film as any to have premiered this year. – IndieWire
It’s a great example of how a well-told story, with vivid characters, can seep right into your bones and keep you thinking for days afterward-and the pleasure felt while watching it isn’t negligible either. – Time Magazine
Far from some stuffy costume drama, it’s a deeply stirring romance with a modern soul, and also a forcefully, compassionately feminist one. – AV Club
Sharply subverting the male gaze at every turn, Sciamma has created an unforgettable treatise on thwarted desire. It is so very easy to label a film incendiary, but Portrait of a Lady on Fire deserves the scalding honour. It will ignite every flame you might have. – Globe and Mail
Real love may be fleeting, but as Portrait of a Lady on Fire explains, art and memory are immortal. – Independent
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a heartrending and sensual tale of longing, female solidarity, and heartache that is thrillingly performed by its cast and vividly directed by Celine Sciamma. A love story for the ages. – Daily Mirror
A superbly elegant, enigmatic drama … I was on the edge of my seat. – Guardian
Sciamma … has a magnificent capability for elegant prose that wouldn’t feel out of place in a classic novel, the kind of dialogue that simmers long after it is spoken. – The Playlist
In Sciamma’s gifted hands, the film escapes cliché and becomes something glorious—a study of forbidden love that grandly highlights how much has been lost under the crush of hetero patriarchy. – Vanity Fair
COMING SOON
