Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

In 1770, on an isolated island in Brittany, France, three women explore the tender and burning melodies of love, femininity, and liberty executed masterfully, guaranteed to have you at the edge of your seat. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire becomes the fourth feature of her peculiar yet minimalist filmography. At the Cannes Film Festival, the picture won both Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm, it was also nominated for the Palme d’Or.

Daughter of a French countess, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) is promised to marry a Milanese man she has never met before, and so she is to have a wedding portrait painted. Because of her objection to the marriage, she refuses to pose for the painting. So, when the young artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to produce the portrait, it is in secret through observations under the pretense of a hired companion. With little to no dialogue and score, one might at first think it will be dreadfully boring. But with only the occasional sound of a crashing wave, every touch and every glance is intensified to have you breath-holding still, as the two women slowly, but surely fall in love.

Featuring another subplot with Sophie (Luana Bajrami), the maid, the film is a true tribute to feminism at its core; women embracing women. With a lack of male presence, the environment lets the women explore their identity separate from society. Unlike many films nowadays that claim to be “woke” and progressive, this lesbian love-story is not made or exploited for straight men. It isn’t objectifying or done with the intent of pleasing the male-gaze. Even though the film is 18+ rated because of its nudity, the women’s bodies are never sexualised and the movie’s integrity never compromised. There are no six-minute-long borderline pornographic sex scenes between Héloïse and Marianne. Their relationship is wonderfully organic and in no way revolves around sex, but their mutual affection. This is a movie made by a queer woman, and it certainly shows it.

With memorable performances, beautiful shots, and care put into every bit – whether that be the very specific moments where music is organically incorporated, or the wardrobe design (which Sciamma also personally worked on as a costume designer), Portrait of a Lady on Fire is perhaps one of the most relevant modern films portraying the purest form of cinema. It is completely nude; stripped of all the extravaganza that begs for us to feel and be impressed. It is simply three women on an island – and it is exquisite.