Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, released in 2019, is an impeccably directed film by Celine Sciamma that turns the Bechdel Test on its head. That test looks at how many women characters are in the film and what they speak about. Many films have no named female characters and when they do converse it's about men. In this film, there are hardly any male characters, and the women don't speak about them.

The film is thus a feminist film, but it also about art, collaboration, and the love that dare not speak its name. Set in 1770s Brittany, it concerns a portrait painter (Noemie Merlant) who has arrived at an estate to paint the portrait of a young woman (Adele Haenel) to send to her prospective husband. But there is so much more going on.

Haenel had an older sister who died (she may have committed suicide). At the time she was in a convent, but now that her marriageable sister is dead, she is being married off to a Milanese man. She is against this turn of events, and thus will not sit for a portrait. Merlant poses as a companion, and has to paint Haenel on the sly. Over the course of this duplicity, the two fall in love.

There are many themes running through the film. A maid (Luana Bajrami) becomes pregnant and the three women conspire to have her pregnancy terminated. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice also permeates the script, as the three read it together and analyze why Orpheus turned around to look at his beloved when he is escorting her out of Hades, thus condemning her to a second death. The notion of turning around one last time is represented again in the ending.

Technically this is a brilliant film as well. Sciamma is a master at framing her characters in shots. I particularly liked a moment when the three women are scrounging for herbs to end the pregnancy when they all pop out of a meadow of grass at the same time. The cinematography of Claire Melhon is often breathtakingly beautiful, utilizing the scenery--a rugged coast--as well as the dimly lit interiors. A few times Merlant has a vision of Haenel in a white dress, which seems to be illuminated from within.

The acting by the principals, along with Valeria Golino as Haenel's mother, is first-rate. Haenel is a pretty big deal in France, but this is my first encounter with her. She's won two Cesar Awards, and is also an out actress, which even though we are in 2020 is still a rare and bold thing.

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, in retrospect, is one of the best films of 2019, and will linger with me a long time.