Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
An award-winning period drama from Cannes about the impossible love between the noblewoman Héloïse and the artist hired to paint her portrait in secret.
Brittany, France, 1760. Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride to be and Marianne must paint her without her knowing. She observes her by day and secretly paints her at night. Intimacy and attraction grow between the two women as they share Héloïse’s first and last moments of freedom, all whilst Marianne paints the portrait that will end it all.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is a poignant slow burn in which every word, glance, and touch holds the promise of undiscovered territory. The film engages the emotions and the intellect in tandem, as our heroines discuss the purposes of art and life while their love builds from a spark to a blaze. Sciamma shows how the social norms of the time and the limited freedom enjoyed by women were also reflected in painting and in the way women were portrayed.
The film won the Queer Palm and the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes.
French and Italian spoken, English subtitles.