WRITING

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

dir. Céline Sciamma, written Mar. 28, 2020

Everything about this film looked like a painting, as redundant as that sounds. In art class we were taught to not shade with blacks and I feel the color grading made the shadows/blacks a blue tone, especially in the beginning, which gave it a melancholy feel, but a romantic, soft tone. The shot/reverse shots throughout looked like they were each their own portrait. There doesn’t need to be any nondiegetic sound (a score, something outside of the natural universe of the characters) because paintings don’t require additional noise to understand the message. I love the complimentary colors used, it plays on their balance as a couple. The fire used is extremely emotional, the painting fire starts at the heart at the beginning of the infatuation. Fire is something that’s beautiful and passionate but it can’t last forever. The female gaze portrayed here is not something seen with malice, compared to the male counterpart. The moments are in genuine admiration and analyzation, it’s studying detail and appreciating women for what women are. However, not only was this a beautiful romance film, I thought it was a great portrayal of female freedom. Love, marriage, art, business, abortion—all choices women are continually getting revoked from them and what we’re fighting to regain control over. The last shot of this movie is one of my favorites--it gives me Whiplash vibes, and is just as emotional. I may or may not have been crying as well... Overall, this is a great film and it’s streaming on Hulu, so if you haven’t seen it yet, please do.