Portrait of a Lady on Fire


Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a 2019 French historical romantic drama film written and directed by Céline Sciamma, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel. Set in France in the late 18th century, the film tells the story of a forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Queer Palm at Cannes, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win the award. Sciamma also won the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes. The film was theatrically released in France on 18 September 2019.
It was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and was chosen by the National Board of Review as Top Five Foreign Language Films of 2019.

Plot

At the end of the eighteenth century, Marianne, a young painter, is teaching painting lessons. One of her students asks her about a painting of hers, which Marianne calls Portrait de la jeune fille en feu.
Years previously, Marianne arrives on a distant island in Brittany. She has been commissioned to paint a portrait of a young woman named Héloïse, who is to be married off to a Milanese nobleman. Marianne is informed that Héloïse has previously refused to pose for portraits, as she does not want to be married; she had been living in a convent before the suicide of her older sister necessitated her return and her betrothal. Marianne acts as Héloïse's hired companion to be able to paint her in secret, and accompanies her on daily walks to memorize Héloïse's features.
Marianne finishes the portrait, but finds herself unable to betray Héloïse's trust and reveals her true reason for arriving. After Héloïse criticises the painting, which does not seem to portray her true nature, Marianne destroys the work. Héloïse's mother is shocked to hear that Héloïse is willing to pose for Marianne over the next few days. While her mother leaves for Italy, Héloïse and Marianne's bond grows. One evening, they read the story of Orpheus and Eurydice while debating the true reason why Orpheus turned around to look at his wife. The pair help Sophie, a maid, have an abortion, and the three go to a bonfire gathering where women sing and dance, during which Héloïse's dress briefly catches fire. Meanwhile, Marianne is haunted throughout the house by visions of Héloïse in a wedding dress.
The next day, Marianne and Héloïse go to a cave and share their first kiss and make love later that night. Over the next few days, their romance grows stronger. However, it is cut short by the inevitable return of Héloïse's mother. The evening before her departure, Marianne sketches a drawing of Héloïse to remember her, and Héloïse asks Marianne to draw a sketch of herself on page 28 of her book. The next morning Marianne bids farewell, and as she is about to leave the house she hears Héloïse say, "Turn around". She turns and sees Héloïse in her wedding dress, appearing exactly as she did in the visions that haunted Marianne earlier.
In the present, Marianne reveals that she saw Héloïse twice again. The first time was in the form of a portrait at an art exhibition where Héloïse, with a child beside her, is holding a book showing only page number 28 — secretly acknowledging the memory of Marianne through the memento that Héloïse requested from her. The second time was at a concert where Héloïse sat in a theater balcony across from Marianne. Unobserved, Marianne watches Héloïse as she becomes overwhelmed with emotion and comes to tears while listening to the orchestra play the Presto from "Summer" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the music that Marianne had played for her on a harpsichord years ago.

Production

began in October 2018 and was completed after 38 days. Filming took place in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon in Brittany and a château in La Chapelle-Gauthier, Seine-et-Marne.
The paintings and sketches in the film were made by artist Hélène Delmaire. She painted 16 hours every day during the course of filming, basing her painting on the blocking of the scenes. Her hands were also featured in the film. To mark the release of the film in France, Delmaire's paintings from Portrait of a Lady on Fire were exhibited at the Galerie Joseph in Paris from 20 to 22 September 2019.

Cast

On 22 August 2018, film distributor MK2 began the sale of international rights to the film, with Pyramide Films acquiring the distribution rights for France. On 10 February 2019, Curzon Artificial Eye acquired the rights for the United Kingdom, Karma Films did so for Spain, Cinéart for Benelux, and Folkets Bio for Sweden. Neon and Hulu acquired the distribution rights for North America on 22 May.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was released in France on 18 September 2019. The film premiered theatrically in the United States as a limited release on 6 December 2019, followed by a wide release on 14 February 2020. It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 February 2020.

Reception

Critical response

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was the subject of broad acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 292 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.99/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A singularly rich period piece, Portrait of a Lady on Fire finds stirring, thought-provoking drama within a powerfully acted romance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and has been designated a Metacritic "Must See" movie. It is the second best reviewed film of 2019.
A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a "subtle and thrilling love story, at once unsentimental in its realistic assessment of women's circumstances", describing the unfolding of Marianne and Héloïse's relationship as "less a chronicle of forbidden desire than an examination of how desire works" and "the dangerous, irresistible power of looking". Mark Kermode from The Observer/The Guardian gave the film five stars and said it is "an intellectually erotic study of power and passion in which observed becomes observer, authored becomes author, returning time and again to a central question: 'If you look at me, who do I look at?', and described the unwanted pregnancy subplot as "confronting but also depicting a taboo subject and its representation, refusing to look away, finding strength in sorority." In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge said about Sciamma as director and screenwriter: "Though this gorgeous, slow-burn lesbian romance works strongly enough on a surface level, one can hardly ignore the fact, as true then as it is now, that the world looks different when seen through a woman's eyes", describing the film as "rigorously scripted", and her approach "looking past surfaces in an attempt to capture deeper emotion".

Accolades

The film was one of three shortlisted by the French Ministry of Culture to be France's submission to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, along with Les Misérables and Proxima. Les Misérables was ultimately submitted.
AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryNomineeResult
Cannes Film Festival25 May 2019Palme d'orCéline Sciamma
Cannes Film Festival25 May 2019Best Screenplay AwardCéline Sciamma
Cannes Film Festival25 May 2019Queer PalmCéline Sciamma
British Independent Film Awards1 December 2019Best International Independent FilmCéline Sciamma, Véronique Cayla, Bénédicte Couvreur
European Film Awards7 December 2019Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
European Film Awards7 December 2019Best ActressNoémie Merlant
European Film Awards7 December 2019Best ActressAdèle Haenel
European Film Awards7 December 2019Best ScreenwriterCéline Sciamma
European Film Awards7 December 2019European University Film AwardPortrait of a Lady on Fire
New York Film Critics Online7 December 2019Foreign LanguagePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Los Angeles Film Critics Association8 December 2019Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Toronto Film Critics Association8 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association8 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Best Movie by a WomanCéline Sciamma
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Best Woman StorytellerCéline Sciamma
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Best Movie About WomenPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Best Foreign Film By or About WomenPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Karen Morley AwardPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Women Film Critics Circle9 December 2019Best Screen CoupleNoémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel
Chicago Film Critics Association14 December 2019Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Chicago Film Critics Association14 December 2019Best Costume DesignPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Chicago Film Critics Association14 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association14 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Boston Society of Film Critics15 December 2019Best PicturePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Boston Society of Film Critics15 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Boston Society of Film Critics15 December 2019Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
St. Louis Film Critics Association15 December 2019Best Foreign FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best ScreenplayPortrait of a Lady on Fire
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best ActressNoémie Merlant
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best ActressAdèle Haenel
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best Supporting ActressAdèle Haenel
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best CinematographyPortrait of a Lady on Fire
IndieWire Critics Poll16 December 2019Best Foreign FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle16 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Seattle Film Critics Society16 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Seattle Film Critics Society16 December 2019Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Florida Film Critics Circle23 December 2019Best PicturePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Florida Film Critics Circle23 December 2019Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
Florida Film Critics Circle23 December 2019Best Original ScreenplayCéline Sciamma
Florida Film Critics Circle23 December 2019Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Florida Film Critics Circle23 December 2019Best Foreign Language FilmBest Foreign Language Film
National Society of Film Critics4 January 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Golden Globe Awards5 January 2020Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Austin Film Critics Association6 January 2020Best Supporting ActressAdèle Haenel
Austin Film Critics Association6 January 2020Best Foreign-Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Online Film Critics Society6 January 2020Best PicturePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Online Film Critics Society6 January 2020Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
Online Film Critics Society6 January 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Online Film Critics Society6 January 2020Best Film Not in the English LanguagePortrait of a Lady on Fire
New York Film Critics Circle Awards7 January 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
National Board of Review8 January 2020Top Five Foreign Language FilmsPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Dorian Awards8 January 2020Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Dorian Awards8 January 2020Director of the YearCéline Sciamma
Dorian Awards8 January 2020LGBTQ Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Dorian Awards8 January 2020Foreign Language Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Dorian Awards8 January 2020Screenplay of the YearCéline Sciamma
Dorian Awards8 January 2020Visually Striking Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Georgia Film Critics Association10 January 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Georgia Film Critics Association10 January 2020Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Critics' Choice Awards12 January 2020Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Lumières Award27 January 2020Best FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Lumières Award27 January 2020Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
Lumières Award27 January 2020Best ActressNoémie Merlant
Lumières Award27 January 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
London Film Critics Circle30 January 2020Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
London Film Critics Circle30 January 2020Foreign-Language Film of the YearPortrait of a Lady on Fire
British Academy Film Awards2 February 2020Best Film Not in the English LanguagePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Satellite Awards7 February 2020Best Foreign Language FilmPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Film Independent Spirit Awards8 February 2020Best International FilmCéline Sciamma
César Awards28 February 2020Best FilmBénédicte Couvreur and Céline Sciamma
César Awards28 February 2020Best DirectorCéline Sciamma
César Awards28 February 2020Best ActressAdèle Haenel
César Awards28 February 2020Best ActressNoémie Merlant
César Awards28 February 2020Most Promising ActressLuàna Bajrami
César Awards28 February 2020Best Original ScreenplayCéline Sciamma
César Awards28 February 2020Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
César Awards28 February 2020Best SoundJulien Sicart, Valérie de Loof and Daniel Sobrino
César Awards28 February 2020Best Costume DesignDorothée Guiraud
César Awards28 February 2020Best Production DesignThomas Grézaud
GLAAD Media Award19 March 2020Outstanding Film – Limited ReleasePortrait of a Lady on Fire
Nastro d'Argento6 July 2020Best Supporting ActressValeria Golino

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray for Zone 2 was released by Pyramide Video on 18 February 2020. It was released as VOD on Hulu on 27 March 2020. The DVD for Region 1 and Blu-ray for Region A was released by The Criterion Collection on 23 June 2020.