Portrait of a Lady on Fire movie was directed by Céline Sciamma. And it’s a story of a painter. That’s hired to paint a portrait of a woman who’s about to be given away in marriage.
The problem is this woman does not want to be given away in marriage and while it is typical for a woman and a man at that time getting married to have portraits done of them.
She doesn’t love this man and she doesn’t want to be with him, so she’s being very obstinate about having her portrait painted. So this painter is hired to secretly painter but only by memory.
So she has to follow her around and try to memorize her facial features. And in so doing for a number of reasons, this painter realizes that this job is going to be a lot harder than she thought.
This is a French film, that is very attuned to its characters. This movie the likes to take its time and really meditate on what each character is saying. They speak slowly and quietly.
There’s often a lot of pauses in between the way they interact and it creates this suspenseful feeling of isolation. Because we focus mostly on just a few people who are on the small island.
They often take walks on the beach and it feels like there isn’t anyone for miles. A sense of claustrophobia develops and the film becomes a lot more tense than I expected it to be.
And the film is miraculously acted. I was mesmerized by these performances. As far as cinematography goes, this is one of the best of the year. Every shot is bursting with color.
The movie was shot in 8 K. Specifically to retain as much color as possible. In every frame is immaculate. It’s a movie about a painter that looks like it was painted. Céline Sciamma as far as I’m concerned has directed one of the most beautiful movies of the year.
This movie was a ravishing and I don’t use that word like ever but it really felt that way to me. I was just constantly taken with every scene. There’s a devastating and deeply romantic sense. To this film I was riveted from the beginning all the way to the end.
this movie is absolutely really wonderful it. Takes its time to present real characters and the way they ask each other questions is is such a mental mind game. It feels like they’re playing chess in a way with how they speak to each other.
Because these characters are beginning to feel things. That was considered very inappropriate for their time to be public about the plus. There’s this scenario that they’re in because she’s there to essentially lie.
She has to pretend like she’s there to be this girl’s companion and sort of take her on walks and speak with her. But in reality she’s doing what the other girl doesn’t want to do, paint a portrait.
But as certain feelings begin to develop. Now she feels like she’s giving this woman away to some mansions they want to be with by painting her. This film rarely explains its characters to you.
It just presents them and through their remarkable performances, you get a sense of who they are. Both of these women deliver two of the best performances I’ve seen in 2019.
And Céline Sciamma is worthy of the best director nod as far as I’m concerned. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film that I’m sure many will call slow and boring. And a lot of people think nothing happened, that impressed me this much.
I really love this movie. And I felt that these characters were real people. I wanted them to be safe, I wanted them to be happy. I really really cared about these people. This is a gorgeous movie.
A film that comes along rarely in a filmmaker’s career. I will go as far as to say it’s a masterpiece.
I’m going to give Portrait of a Lady on Fire an A-plus.
This is a great year for film. I am so happy were getting so many great movies. I hope you guys see this one. It’s not going to be for everyone. I’m sure of that. There’s gonna be people who are very bored by this movie, but I think it’s very special and if it comes to a theater near you please do see it.
Guys, thank you so much as always for reading my reviews. Look forward to more reviews very soon. See you next time with another movie review.
