Celine Sciamma's exquisite tale of two women falling in love takes its time. It is a gentle and intentional film where each glance is meaningful.
Taking place in the late 1700s, Portrait of a Lady on Fire follows Marianne (Noemie Merlant), a painter and an independent woman who is commissioned to paint a portrait of Heloise (Adele Haenel), a young woman who has been brought back from the convents by her mother to marry a wealthy gentleman from Milan after her sister "refuses the marriage" by killing herself. Heloise has never met this man and is sure that this marriage will be the death of her freedom. Marianne is told that she must paint the portrait without Heloise knowing--as Heloise refused to sit for the last painter and he was unable to finish.
As the two women get to know each other (Marianne is introduced to Heloise as a companion for walks), they slowly fall in love. Or in lust, at least. This film reminded me *a lot* of my beloved Call Me By Your Name for many reasons: the taboo same-sex affair, the gentleness and slowness of the characters' courtships, the dreamy European setting. Even the ends of both films mirror each other (and involve lengthy shots of people crying). Like CMBYN, one of the pleasures of Portrait of a Lady on Fire is its sensuality and sumptuousness. The cinematography is striking, the scenes of love-making are tender and erotic instead of porn-y, and the camera lingers on the characters faces and hands--this is a film that is made to be savored instead of devoured.
The other pleasure of the film is its female-centric point of view. Directed by a woman and starring only women (with a couple random guys who are, like, valets or whatever) the conversations women have in this film--be they about arranged marriages, literature, unwanted pregnancies, or art--feel true to how women think and talk (at least from this cisgender woman living in the 21st century's perspective). They talk about abortion and loveless marriages like they are annoying facts of life to be dealt with practically. There is no romance novel purple prose here. The women in this film are just as grounded and logical as they are passionate--like most women I know. And the sex scenes don't feel skeevy and slavering the way they often do when lesbian sex is filmed by and for the male gaze.
I honestly don't have much else to say. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a sensual, transcendent, feminist film and you should get your ass to the theatres and watch it (on the big screen) today.
Grade: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment