X
- 2019
- R
- 2 h 2 m
- 2019
- R
- 2 h 2 m
Summary 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...
Directed By: Céline Sciamma
Written By: Céline Sciamma
- 2019
- R
- 2 h 2 m
- 2019
- R
- 2 h 2 m
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
8.5
Where to Watch
Summary 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...
Directed By: Céline Sciamma
Written By: Céline Sciamma
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
95
100% Positive
48 Reviews
48 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
95
100% Positive
48 Reviews
48 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The movie dramatizes the constraints of the era, the imposition of a narrow and religion-based morality, the stern discipline that’s internalized as a result, the elision of women and their world from public life, and the firm expectations of family and society that Héloïse will endure in her unwanted marriage. Yet it does more than merely depict them—it embodies them, in the characters’ poised stillness, which makes the airy surroundings feel as rigid as stone.
There are many great acting moments in this film, but you should especially savor the final shot, the long close-up of Haenel in profile. Put simply, it’s why we go to the movies.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 369 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
317 Ratings
317 Ratings
9% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
5% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 369 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
317 Ratings
317 Ratings
9% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
5% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
if you like movies like persona, don't miss this one.
finally a worthy movie to watch.
everything is good in this movie.
a true masterpiece.
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Beautifully shot, an amazing cast. So rich and gets better with each rewatch.
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Just like the short time the lovers have together, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is minimal but perfect, without an image, a glance, or a brushstroke to spare.
Assaying [Sciamma's] first period film, an exquisitely executed love story that's both formally adventurous and emotionally devastating, she sticks the landing like a UCLA gymnast in peak condition. It's so good you'll want to watch again in slow-motion immediately afterwards just to see how she does it.
This is less a chronicle of forbidden desire than an examination of how desire works. Like a lost work of 18th-century literature, it is at once ardent and rigorous, passionate and philosophical.
A Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a richly textured, highly evocative story of love, lust and longing, and thanks to exceptional direction and remarkable, talented actors it’s a work to be cherished.
What's most stirring about Céline Sciamma's film is the lack of artifice in Héloïse and Marianne's feelings for one another.
Romance in its greatest splendor. Portraited it in a cinematography that every single shot can be a gorgeous painting. Every single aspect feels the most genuine and natural that I've ever seen in a love film; the acting, directing, script, cinematography and editing are summarized in a simple word, BEAUTY.
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A female painter in 1760's France is commissioned to create a portrait of a young woman who doesn't want her portrait painted. This quietly-paced drama has lots of long silences and longing looks. Sparse in dialogue and emotion. For those who appreciate French films at their most genteel, serious and stylistically subdued, this sensitive love story will likely appeal. Although I could appreciate its approach and story, I found the film dry and slow.
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"The director probably had kids and was married when she realized she was a lesbian and was like... Oh, I must make this film!" - My GF.
This movie is 5/5 if you enjoy movies with minimal story and long shots of peoples faces. The close-up shots of her painting were nice but did get a bit much for me at times.
Some very beautiful shots & imagery in this movie. I loved the opening on the boat, gave a sense of raw realism. There were some moments I enjoyed for sure... but they were too far and few between.
Hearing the audience giggle at certain points showed the company I was in.
I'm glad everyone is enjoying this movie... but it didn't click hard with me. Not enough substance for the art. Lots of long shots with no music or dialogue. I felt relaxed during the movie ... but shots of her walking around an empty dark building slowly with a candle can only hold my attention for so long.
"Oh my God, like...Being **** back then for women must have been SOoooo Harrrrrd. I get it. I UNDERSTAND THE STRUGGLE." - What people think after watching this imagined by my gf.. lol
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What a boring feminist, today political correct movie, that means propaganda. If it only had a lot of story or deep story to tell, then I could enjoy it. Or if it had great dialogue or something else...nothing. Such a boring movie, a movie for political correct people.
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I find it dubious that there exist very few negative reviews for this film, as I would with any film. My concern has grown since going to watch it. I'm glad the masses found it enjoyable. I, unfortunately, find myself to be one of few (at least vocal) cinemagoers who did not like the film. Leaving the cinema, I was offended. I felt gypped, cheated, mislead, though, happy to see the back of it. To evoke the saying "throw me a bone", this movie showed me its bones, one by one, placed them clumsily into its various pockets and tripped into the sea. I waited for this movie to give me anything, something I could leave with, something to shock me, something I haven't seen before. It gave me the latter, perhaps the most tedious, plodding, most unenjoyable cinema experience in recent memory. I found myself counting the seconds between each line of dialogue delivered. It was comical. I was grasping for threads to follow, themes of substance, anything, I was starving. Maybe that was the point, a realist approach, showing it as it were, I had surmised. I tossed and turned in this manner until I had no longer cared as to construe purpose in the film. Resorting to taking in the pretty pictures, I landed at the conclusion that this was what the film was, and just that. Just as I relaxed uncomfortably, a thought of Barry Lyndon came to my head. Perhaps this film excels at nothing.
As I do with any art related enterprise, I give props to the filmmakers for making art, participating in the craft, and for throwing in their two cents. Offended as I was by the lack of substance within the picture, they provided me with something to get passionate about, even if that may be the distaste for the picture itself. I see this picture called "The perfect film", to that I must conclude this is your first time, there's much more in store for you.
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Production Company
Lilies Films,
Arte France Cinéma,
Hold Up Films,
Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC),
La Région Île-de-France,
Canal+,
Ciné+,
ARTE,
Pyramide Distribution,
MK2 Films,
Cinécap 2
Release Date Dec 6, 2019
Duration 2 h 2 m
Rating R
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
César Awards, France
• 1 Win & 10 Nominations
International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA)
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
