Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady of Fire is a film that has long been sitting dormant on my watchlist. I appreciate that this is an unusual introduction to a Movie Monday segment, as I am meant to be sharing what I love about this film, however, I am now embarrassed to confess that I spent a long time putting off watching Sciamma’s masterpiece.
I anticipated Portrait of a Lady on Fire to be a challenging watch due to it not being in English, set on a remote island in Brittany, France. But while I did find this film a challenging viewing in many ways, this had absolutely nothing to do with reading the subtitles: the challenge, instead, was the emotional and gut-wrenching journey that I was taken on.
I was lucky enough to be invited to a showing of Portrait of a Lady on Fire that was put on by Bad Gal Film Club earlier this year, and sat in a room full of like-minded film fanatics, I was instantly mesmerised—and remained so for the entirety of the runtime.
Set in the late eighteenth century, the plot follows portrait artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) as she is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman without her knowing. Together, Marianne and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) go on walks along the coast, where Marianne secretly studies the young woman’s face so that she can successfully paint the portrait which is to be sent off to her suitor.
While little dialogue is spoken, their connection and pull to one another is palpable from their first interaction. As they embark on their first walk together, Héloïse is pictured in a large, hooded cloak, so both the audience and Marianne are unable to make out her face. Sciamma masterfully builds suspense as, like Marianne, we are left to wonder what she looks like and why no artist has been successfully able to paint her.
As they reach the cliffs, Héloïse begins to run towards the edge, mirroring the fate of her sister, who we learn jumped from the cliffs ahead of being forced into a marriage of her own. As she reaches the edge, Héloïse turns and we are given a close-up camera shot of her face, as she stares, breathless, into the eyes of Marianne.
She then proclaims: “I have dreamt of that for years.”
Marianne responds: “Dying?”
To which Héloïse replies: “Running.”
It is here that Héloïse’s wants and desires are made crystal clear—above all else, she yearns for freedom. And as the film unfolds, we watch this freedom manifest in the form of the love that blossoms between these two women: through their walks along the seafront, playing the piano together, and Marianne eventually confessing her identity and Héloïse agreeing to pose for the portrait.
However, this love also feels deeply bittersweet, as its end seems completely unavoidable. As Marianne finished her portrait, and I watched it be boarded up and shipped overseas, my heart began to ache for the two lovers.
From that point of the film onwards, I felt as if I had stopped breathing completely. Their brief final embrace, concealing all their emotions and love for each other so as to not reveal their forbidden relationship to Héloïse’s mother, is devastating. And then, we learn that they only see each other twice more—once through a portrait of Héloïse and her daughter, and a final time at the Opera.
As Marianne and Héloïse sit opposite each other at the Opera, both there to listen to the song they once played together on the piano, the camera cuts to a close up of Héloïse and remains there for the duration of the song. Haenel’s performance is absolutely faultless here, and I was mesmerised by her silent portrayal of grief, love, frustration, yearning, and desire all wrapped into that one moment. It is clear that while the years have passed, the time they shared branded both their hearts forever.
As the film ended, I was completely overwhelmed with a plethora of different emotions and I couldn’t believe that I had waited so long to watch the film in the first place.
While forbidden love is a topic in literature and film that has been revisited over and over again, this film feels original and unique in its interpretation. I can not urge you strongly enough to not make the same mistake as I did in taking so long to give it a watch.
I also believe that my experience is a testament to the importance of watching those films that you have been putting off because they seem intimidating, and pushing yourself to tick some more challenging movies off your watchlist before we wrap up this year. I can almost guarantee the only regret you will have is not having watched them sooner.
Words by Amelia Morgan
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