How the women of 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' put a new spin on sex and smiling in French cinema
A period movie so alive with ideas and emotions it feels like it is taking place in the present tense, "Portrait of a Lady On Fire" has been igniting viewers around the world for the better part of a year.
Written and directed by Celine Sciamma, the film won the screenplay prize and the Queer Palm award when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last summer, and has since been nominated for 10 Cesar awards, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Spirit Award and picked up numerous critics prizes, including recognition for cinematographer Claire Mathon.
Set in late 1700s-Brittany, "Portrait" follows a young female artist, Marianne (Noemie Merlant), hired to paint a portrait of Heloise (Adele Haenel), recently out of a convent and expected to marry a man she has never met. The job is harder than it sounds: Marianne is told to paint the headstrong Heloise without her knowing, as she already refused to sit
