Synopsis
Don't regret. Remember.
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2019 ‘Portrait de la jeune fille en feu’ Directed by Céline Sciamma
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Cinematography
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Alternative Titles
浴火的少女画像, 燃烧女子的画像, 火吻女孩的肖像, 燃烧的女子肖像, ภาพฝันของฉันคือเธอ, Alev Almış Bir Genç Kızın Portresi
Popular reviews
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You ever find yourself staring at a bonfire? Just zoning out and watching the flame change every second, feeling the heat, the energy, the anger, the tension, you get what I’m saying. It’s a beautifully hypnotic thing, and that’s exactly what Portrait of a Lady on Fire is. The only difference being that this brought me to tears in ways a bonfire never could.
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“do all lovers feel they’re inventing something?”
the clandestine stealing of forbidden glances. the thankless task of trying to tamp a lover’s image into the folds of your brain. the dread of said image’s inevitable fading. the smoldering slow-burn of impossible yearning, and the explosive fireworks when it’s finally reciprocated. the sizzling sound of a final farewell.
director céline sciamma packs each frame with tangible emotion, and she does it all without a manipulative score. we know exactly what to feel at all times, purely on the merit of the leads’ magnetic performances and claire mathon’s luscious cinematography. music is only utilized sparsely (through vivaldi, and through a choral latin chant), and it’s all diegetic, which preserves the film’s veracity. the perfect song seldom plays during our most formative moments, and the perfect person seldom enters our lives at the right time. but sometimes, if we’re lucky enough, they can overlap.
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its come to my attention that women are the only people who know how to make movies
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CIFF 2019: film #2
“he doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s”
my body is still visibly shaken, and i cried the entire duration. i haven’t been this moved by a film in years. not only is it exquisitely made, but the emotional toll it took on me is almost damaging. yearning personified: seen through the stokes of a paintbrush, or across the flames of a fire. crushing and beautiful and fleeting. sometimes all that’s left is the memory, but the memory stays. that last shot is going to haunt me
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hey girls! did you know that um. not everything is fleeting? some feelings are deep? I found the liberty you spoke of in solitude but I also felt your absence???
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“not everything is fleeting. some feelings are deep”
i finally figured it out. many times when i watch a new favorite film, it adds something to my life, a new, additional piece of me. with this, it calmly settles down in a special empty space in my heart, an emptiness that’s been eagerly waiting for it to come along. it makes me feel more complete. going forward, i’m thankful i get to carry this with me now. it fits so naturally that it feels like it’s always been there, and now it always will be
