Portrait of a Lady on Fire is streaming on Māori+
I try to be cognisant of the expense of watching all these films and shows, and to check back at the free (ad-supported) streamers every now and then.
Whoever is programming the movies for Whakaata Māori (Māori TV) has great taste and I recommend that you stop by there regularly to see what they have been adding.
I reviewed Portrait of a Lady on Fire for At the Movies just as some of the most anticipated pictures of 2020 were heading online while cinemas were closed. This one was hotly anticipated as it had been a hit at the previous year’s NZ International Film Festival.
We are in windswept Brittany in the early 19th century. A young painter, played by Noémie Merlant has arrived at a remote mansion to paint the owner’s daughter, Héloise (played by Adele Haenel). Only, the daughter is not to know about the painting. The portrait is for a rich Italian so he can confirm an offer of marriage – a marriage that Héloise is understandably resistant to.
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As you might expect for a film where a work of art is a central theme, the composition and framing is delicious. Cinematographer Claire Mathon uses mostly natural light – candles in the evening scenes and sun behind stormy skies in the daytime – and the camera is relatively still. Gentle pans or almost imperceptible slow zooms are the order of the day.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film about limits. The limits placed on women because of gender, the limits put on lesbian women because of prejudice and the limits put on a squeezed aristocracy when the money disappears at the same time as the men do. The title of the film comes from an incident in the story but it’s also a little bit of a misnomer. Portrait of a Lady on Fire smoulders throughout, there is considerable heat under the surface but for all the characters there is no easy way to let it out.
Superbly crafted from beginning to end, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is going to be lots of people’s favourite film of the year. It’s romantic, political, sensitive and sensory. If your idea of great cinema is to watch the play of emotions make their way across the face of a character trying to suppress them, this film is going to be right up your alley.
In Aotearoa NZ, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is available to stream on Māori+ or a digital rental from the usual suspects.
