Portrait of a Lady on Fire Review:

A gentle and moving film having a colorful and spiritual relationship at the center of it, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," Courtesy of Neon.

Héloïse: "In solitude, I felt the liberty you spoke of. But I also felt your absence."

A couple years ago I had reviewed a film called Call Me By Your Name (2017), a film that shattered me and still is one of the more effective romances I have seen in a long time. I'll even suggest that the film is nearly perfect due to its gentle care with the camera with the characters on screen. The film received much love and acclaim, making it a "must see" kind of film. But the catch was that it was a homosexual film. However, in my eyes, it is a strong romantic film that is deeply moving and left me in tears after watching it. Much like Call Me By Your Name, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) is thus on a similar basis. A romance between two individuals who do not have much time and must go their inevitable separate ways when the runtime ends.

More from a female perspective, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is about a painter, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) who is hired to paint a portrait of a woman, Heloise (Adèle Haenel), who is about to be sold into marriage, and since back then during this time when women were sold into marriages, their portrait is normally painted to go along with them for the husband. And since Heloise's last painter could not finish her portrait, Marianne is hired to finish her portrait but only through interaction and not posing for Marianne. But as their relationship begins to grow closer, they find love and experience a time-limited relationship where Marianne knows that their relationship is forbidden and must let Heloise be sold off.

Adèle Haenel (left) and Noémie Merlant (right) in "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," Courtesy of Neon.

For starters, this is a French film. And if one does not have much experience or knowledge with French films, the main element that comes with most of them are the sluggish pace that is presented. If one does not like slow films, this is definitely not for you. But for myself, this film has exactly what I was looking for. It is slow and takes its time to tell a romantic love story between two women who know that their time is limited and they must cherish every single day they have together like it's their last.

And since the film is written and directed by Céline Sciamma, a female filmmaker who is lesbian, the film feels like there is alot of care and gentleness when it comes to the presentation of the camera on its characters. And presumably, there is something here I much feared going in, which is the idea of the female gaze. Thankfully, the nudity is slimmed back and gives the characters a sense of privacy, which adds to the romance quite frankly. Much like Call Me By Your Name does, keeping their characters out of the camera's viewpoint when sexual desires are happening.

Adèle Haenel (left) and Noémie Merlant (right) in "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," Courtesy of Neon.

Sciamma presents these characters as strong women, who are in a time period of uncertainty and much discrimination. They know their romance is debarred from the societal outlook, and know if anyone outside of the housemaid (Luàna Bajrami, who also gives an impeccable performance) finds out about their intimate relationship, they will be put into a horrible situation that could result major consequences. And Sciamma portrays that realistically, which is major kudos to her cause she knows the amount of detail that goes into this story and era.

The script lets all three major characters have a deal of screen time to show off their skills as actresses. The directing here is remarkable as well, but the actresses here are extremely impressive and career defining. Especially the two leads, Merlant and Haenel, they create such a strong chemistry as the film progresses. Again, all around, these characters are strongly established and flourish as the runtime continues. And as mentioned above, there is not any scenes where the nudity or sex is over the top, creating a sense of a gaze, but they let us enter their realm after they are done and just lying in bed talking or long after when they are playing games or working on the painting.

A passionate love story that allows a viewer inside to experience the short lived emotional tale in "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," Courtesy of Neon.

Lastly, the camerawork is steady and heedful, a style that while can be an easy way of filmmaking, here it shows off the excellent character work from the actors and scenery around them. And since the film is about showing off colors and paintings, Sciamma decided to film in 8k. Displaying as much color as she could, and once one sits down and starts the film, they will get lost into the splendor that is this world. There are a handful of scenes where the lighting and color just pop off the screen, giving a viewer to take in, essentially, an image that is much like a painting.

Aside from one criticism, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is easily one of the better films that came out in 2019. Luckily for the US, it is now streaming and available at our disposal. There is something quite special about this film, and it's the romance. It's incredibly well realized and handled with extreme care. A viewer will see a full contained love story unfold before them. You see lovers have hesitation at first, then become exceptionally close and then before you know it, the ending comes and leaves you with a devastating punch. Looking back on my experience with this film, I can see why it is well received. Much like Parasite (2019), foreign films are making a surge for American audiences and I hope it continues. Films like these are uncommon and we all have to cherish it when they come along. Portrait of a Lady on Fire will leave many satisfied and applauding the romance. Again, much like the film itself, it's a contained and short love story, but one that will live on forever.

Rating: A

Run Time: 2 Hours 1 Minute