'Portrait of the Young Lady on Fire') is a 2019 French historical romantic drama film written and directed by Céline Sciamma, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel.
Set in France in the late 18th century, the film tells the story of a brief affair between two young women: an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.
One of her female students asks her about a painting of hers, which Marianne calls Portrait de la jeune fille en feu.
Marianne is informed by Héloïse's mother, the Countess, that she has previously refused to pose for portraits, as she does not want to be married; she had been living in a convent before the suicide of her older sister necessitated her return and her betrothal.
The first was in the form of a portrait at an art exhibition, in which Héloïse, with a child beside her, is portrayed holding a book and surreptitiously revealing the edge of page 28.
[24] To mark the release of the film in France, Delmaire's paintings from Portrait of a Lady on Fire were exhibited at the Galerie Joseph in Paris from 20 to 22 September 2019.
According to Para One, although he and Simonini researched eighteenth century period music, they nonetheless recommended to Sciamma "a modern sound" inspired by György Ligeti's Requiem.
In a review of the song for Slate, Matthew Dessum writes, "The parsimonious use of music in the rest of the film makes the [singing of La Jeune Fille en Feu during the] bonfire scene completely overwhelming for characters and audience alike, so intense that it is almost unbearable.
[26] Writing in Paste, Ellen Johnson concurred: "It's utterly shocking to hear the strange chant after more than an hour of almost no music at all, but that's what makes it so timely ... [it's] a skin-tingling experience.
"[27] The film features Vivaldi's 3rd Movement ("Summer") Presto from "The Four Seasons" album by Italian Baroque orchestra La Serenissima.
[30] On 10 February 2019, Curzon Artificial Eye acquired the rights for the United Kingdom, Karma Films did so for Spain, Cinéart for Benelux, and Folkets Bio for Sweden.
[31][32] A few days after its premiere at Cannes, Neon and Hulu acquired North American distribution rights in a heated auction that also saw offers from Sony Pictures Classics and Netflix.
The website's critical consensus reads, "A singularly rich period piece, Portrait of a Lady on Fire finds stirring, thought-provoking drama within a powerfully acted romance.
', and described the unwanted pregnancy subplot as "confronting but also depicting a taboo subject and its representation, refusing to look away, finding strength in sorority.
[51] For The New Yorker, writer Rachel Syme said Portrait of a Lady on Fire thoroughly examines "the entanglements between artistic creation and burgeoning love, between memory and ambition and freedom.
The film is about the erotic, electric connection between women when they find their desire for creative experience fulfilled in each other, but it is equally about the powers of art to validate, preserve, and console after a romance is over".