Edmonton International Film Fest 2019: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Arriving on the heels of last year’s The Favourite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is another 18^th-century-set critical darling featuring a lesbian romance. However, the similarities end there. What sets this film apart is its subdued style, and that it’s an intimate study of desire.

A young painter named Marianne (Noémie Merlant) gets commissioned to paint the portrait of Héloïse, a noblewoman . This portrait will be used to elicit marriage proposals from men around Europe. As Héloïse refuses to pose for this portrait as she does not want to get married, Marianne poses as a lady’s maid to gain her trust. As time passes, the two young women  fall in love and form a secret  relationship.

The film avoids many of the tropes one would expect from an erotic thriller. There is little graphic nudity, and it’s mostly present in scenes that aren’t sexual. The way in which the film withholds Héloïse from Marianne and the viewer’s gazes for the longest time is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies and how he would play with the audience’s desires and expectations. Just when we think we are about to see Héloïse, the film reveals that it was playing a trick on us. This happens more than once, and while it may frustrate other people, I found that it only made me more invested. It’s a bigger pay-off when we finally do see Héloïse because the film teases the audience with the promise of her image.

Since Portrait of a Lady on Fire is about capturing someone’s essence through painting, it makes sense the film would try to capture its characters’ essences through creative and intelligent camerawork that strategically reveals certain elements (a loving gaze between two lovers) while concealing others (nudity during intimate scenes). The result is a film that touches the mind as much as it touches the heart.

It’s emotional and thought-provoking because the images are so well thought out. Add to that performances that feel incredibly real from the two romantic leads, a beautiful setting in a chateau on the coast of Brittany, and an awesome acapella sequence, and you get one of the most gorgeous and intelligent films of the year.