| Portrait of a Lady on Fire | |
|---|---|
 Festival de Cannes film poster | |
| French | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu |
| Literally | Portrait of the Young Lady on Fire |
| Directed by | Céline Sciamma |
| Written by | Céline Sciamma |
| Produced by | Bénédicte Couvreur |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Claire Mathon |
| Edited by | Julien Lacheray |
| Music by |
|
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Pyramide Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 120 minutes[1] |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | €4.86 million[2] |
| Box office | $10 million[3][4] |
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (French:Portrait de la jeune fille en feu,lit. 'Portrait of the Young Lady on Fire') is a 2019 Frenchhistoricalromanticdrama film written and directed byCéline Sciamma, starringNoémie Merlant andAdèle 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. It was Haenel's final film role before retiring from the film industry in 2023.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire wasselected to compete for thePalme d'Or at the2019 Cannes Film Festival.[5][6] The film won theQueer Palm at Cannes, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win the award.[7] Sciamma also won the award forBest Screenplay at Cannes.[1][8][9] The film wastheatrically released in France on 18 September 2019.[10]
It was nominated forIndependent Spirit Awards,Critics' Choice Awards andGolden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and was chosen by theNational Board of Review as one of the top five foreign language films of 2019. The film was one of three shortlisted by theFrench Ministry of Culture to be France'ssubmission to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.[11][12]
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was voted the 30th greatest film of all time in theSight & Sound 2022 critics' poll.[13][14][15] It has also been considered one of thebest films of 2019, the 21st century, and of all time.[16][17][18]
At the end of the 18th century, Marianne, a painter, is teaching an art class in France. One of her students asks her about a painting of hers, which Marianne callsPortrait de la jeune fille en feu.
Years earlier, Marianne arrives on a distant island inBrittany. She has been commissioned to paint a portrait of a young woman of thegentry named Héloïse, who is to be married off to aMilanese nobleman. Héloïse's mother, the Countess, tells Marianne that Héloïse has previously refused to pose for portraits, as she does not want to be married; she had been living in aconvent before her older sister's suicide necessitated her return and her betrothal. Marianne acts as Héloïse's hired companion to be able to paint her in secret and accompanies her on daily walks along the rugged coastline to memorize Héloïse's features.
Marianne finishes the portrait, but finds herself unable to betray Héloïse's trust and reveals her true reason for arriving. After Héloïse criticises the painting, which does not seem to portray her true nature, Marianne destroys the work and tells the Countess she can create a better painting. As the Countess is getting ready to fire Marianne, Héloïse says that she will pose for Marianne. The Countess is shocked to hear this and gives Marianne five days to complete the new portrait while she is away on the mainland. Marianne is haunted throughout the house by visions of Héloïse in a wedding dress. One evening, they read the story ofOrpheus and Eurydice and debate the reason Orpheus turns around to look at his wife, causing her to be returned to the underworld, with Héloïse suggesting that Eurydice asked him to. Later, the two go to a bonfire gathering where women sing and Héloïse's dress briefly catches fire as she stares at Marianne.
The next day, Marianne and Héloïse share their first kiss and have sex later that night. They spend the next few days together, during which their bond grows stronger, and help the housemaid, Sophie, get an abortion. With their relationship about to be cut short by the Countess's return, Marianne sketches a drawing of Héloïse to remember her by, and Héloïse asks Marianne to draw a nude sketch of herself on page 28 of her book. The Countess approves of the new portrait, and the next morning Marianne bids farewell. As she is about to leave the house, she hears Héloïse say, "Turn around". She turns and sees Héloïse in her wedding dress.
In the present, Marianne reveals that she saw Héloïse two more times. 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. The second time was at a concert in Milan, where she notices Héloïse among the patrons seated in the balcony across the theater from her. Unobserved, Marianne watches as Héloïse is overwhelmed by emotion while listening to the orchestra playing the Presto from "Summer" inVivaldi'sFour Seasons, music that Marianne had played for her on a harpsichord years before.
Principal photography began in October 2018[19] and was completed in 38 days.[20] Filming took place inSaint-Pierre-Quiberon in Brittany and a château inLa Chapelle-Gauthier, Seine-et-Marne.[19][21] The film was produced by Lilies Films,Arte France Cinéma, and Hold Up Films.[22][23]
The paintings and sketches in the film are by artist Hélène Delmaire. She painted for 16 hours every day during the course of filming, basing her painting on the blocking of the scenes. Her hands are also featured in the film.[24] To mark the release of the film in France, Delmaire's paintings fromPortrait of a Lady on Fire were exhibited at the Galerie Joseph inParis from 20 to 22 September 2019.[25]
Sciamma decided to do without a conventionalscore.[26][27] Instead, the soundtrack consists of an originalsingle,La Jeune Fille en Feu (lit. 'The Young Lady on Fire'), by composersPara One andArthur Simonini. The song—performed bySequenza 9.3, withCatherine Simonpiétri conducting[citation needed]—is scored for female choira cappella andrhythmic clapping. According to Para One, although he and Simonini researched18th-century music, they nonetheless recommended to Sciamma "a modern sound" inspired byGyörgy Ligeti'sRequiem.[26] Sciamma provided the lyrics: the (repeated) Latin phrase 'Non possunt fugere' and coda 'Nos resurgemus'—roughly translated as 'They cannot escape' and 'We rise', respectively.
In a review of the song forSlate, Matthew Dessum wrote, "The parsimonious use of music in the rest of the film makes the [singing ofLa Jeune Fille en Feu during the] bonfire scene completely overwhelming for characters and audience alike, so intense that it is almost unbearable. The music is beautiful, it is transporting, it israpturous".[26] Writing inPaste, 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 the third movement of "Summer" from Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", performed by the Italian Baroque orchestraLa Serenissima.[28][29]
On 22 August 2018, film distributormk2 began the sale of international rights to the film, with Pyramide Films acquiring the distribution rights for France.[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 andHulu acquired North American distribution rights in a heated auction that also saw offers fromSony Pictures Classics andNetflix.[33][34][35]
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was released in France on 18 September 2019.[10] The film premiered theatrically in the United States as alimited release on 6 December 2019, followed by awide release on 14 February 2020.[36] It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 February 2020.[37]
TheDVD andBlu-ray forZone 2 was released by Pyramide Video on 18 February 2020.[38][39] The film was released asVOD on Hulu on 27 March 2020.[40] The DVD forRegion 1 and Blu-ray forRegion A was released byThe Criterion Collection on 23 June 2020.[41][42][43]
Céline Sciamma said she wanted "to make a romance film with a totally new story", adding, "there are a few films that are totally dedicated to love, so, often, those are biggest stories in cinema." Among her influences she citesTitanic,Mulholland Drive,Alfred Hitchcock, andBarry Lyndon for lighting with candles. She places thefemale gaze at the center of her film. She was also influenced by the character Ada inJane Campion's 1993 filmThe Piano, who throws herself and her instrument into the water; in Sciamma's film, Marianne throws herself into the water to rescue painting materials that fall overboard. Sciamma said the start ofPortrait of a Lady on Fire can be seen as a continuation of Campion's film.[44]
Portrait of a Lady on Fire received broad acclaim. On review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 341 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 9/10. 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."[45] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim",[46] and has been designated a Metacritic "Must See" movie. It is the second best reviewed film of 2019.[47][48]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times wrote thatPortrait of a Lady on Fire is a "subtle and thrilling love story, at once unsentimental in its realistic assessment of women's circumstances," calling Marianne and Héloïse's relationship, "less a chronicle of forbidden desire than an examination of how desire works," and, "the dangerous, irresistible power of looking."[49]Mark Kermode fromThe Observer/The Guardian gave the film five stars and called it, "an intellectually erotic study of power and passion in which observed becomes observer, authored becomes author, returning time and again to a central question: 'If you look at me, who do I look at?'", and described the unwanted pregnancy subplot as "confronting but alsodepicting a taboo subject and its representation, refusing to look away, finding strength in sorority."[50] ForVariety, Peter Debruge wrote: "Though this gorgeous, slow-burn lesbian romance works strongly enough on a surface level, one can hardly ignore the fact, as true then as it is now, that the world looks different when seen through a woman's eyes," calling the film, "rigorously scripted" and Sciamma's approach "looking past surfaces in an attempt to capture deeper emotion."[51]
ForThe New Yorker, Rachel Syme wrote thatPortrait 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."[52]
The film was voted the 30th greatest film of all time in theSight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2022, the highest of films released in the 2010s.[13][14][15] In 2025, the film ranked 38th onThe New York Times's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and 26th on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[53][54] Also in 2025, it ranked 82nd onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century".[55]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannes Film Festival | 25 May 2019 | Palme d'Or | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | [1][8] |
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Queer Palm | Won | [56] | |||
| British Independent Film Awards | 1 December 2019 | Best International Independent Film | Céline Sciamma, Véronique Cayla, Bénédicte Couvreur | Nominated | [57][58] |
| Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival | 1 December 2019 | Pink Dragon Audience Award | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [59][60] |
| European Film Awards | 7 December 2019 | Best Director | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | [61][62] [63][64] |
| Best Actress | Noémie Merlant | Nominated | |||
| Adèle Haenel | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screenwriter | Céline Sciamma | Won | |||
| European University Film Award | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | |||
| New York Film Critics Online | 7 December 2019 | Foreign Language | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [65] |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | 8 December 2019 | Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | [66] |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | 8 December 2019 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Runner-up | [67] |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | 8 December 2019 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [68] |
| Women Film Critics Circle | 9 December 2019 | Best Movie by a Woman | Céline Sciamma | Runner-up | [69] |
| Best Woman Storyteller | Runner-up | ||||
| Best Movie About Women | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | |||
| Best Foreign Film By or About Women | Won | ||||
| Karen Morley Award | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screen Couple | Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel[a] | Won | |||
| Chicago Film Critics Association | 14 December 2019 | Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Nominated | [70][71] |
| Best Costume Design | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | ||||
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association | 14 December 2019 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 5th place | [72] |
| Boston Society of Film Critics | 15 December 2019 | Best Picture | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Runner-up | [73][74] |
| Best Foreign Language Film | Runner-up | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | |||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | 15 December 2019 | Best Foreign Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [75] |
| IndieWire Critics Poll | 16 December 2019 | Best Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 5th place | [76] |
| Best Director | Céline Sciamma | 4th place | |||
| Best Screenplay | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 10th place | |||
| Best Actress | Noémie Merlant | 13th place | |||
| Adèle Haenel | 10th place | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | 13th place | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 3rd place | |||
| Best Foreign Film | 3rd place | ||||
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | 16 December 2019 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [77] |
| Seattle Film Critics Society | 16 December 2019 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [78] |
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Nominated | |||
| Florida Film Critics Circle | 23 December 2019 | Best Picture | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [79][80] |
| Best Director | Céline Sciamma | Won | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Runner-up | |||
| Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | |||
| National Society of Film Critics | 4 January 2020 | Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | [81] |
| Golden Globe Awards | 5 January 2020 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [82] |
| Austin Film Critics Association | 6 January 2020 | Best Supporting Actress | Adèle Haenel | Nominated | [83][84] |
| Best Foreign-Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| Online Film Critics Society | 6 January 2020 | Best Picture | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 6th place | [85][86] |
| Best Director | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Nominated | |||
| Best Film Not in the English Language | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | 7 January 2020 | Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | [87] |
| National Board of Review | 8 January 2020 | Top Five Foreign Language Films | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [88] |
| Dorian Awards | 8 January 2020 | Film of the Year | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [89][90] |
| Director of the Year | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| LGBTQ Film of the Year | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | |||
| Foreign Language Film of the Year | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| Screenplay of the Year | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| Visually Striking Film of the Year | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| Georgia Film Critics Association | 10 January 2020 | Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Nominated | [91][92] |
| Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | |||
| Critics' Choice Awards | 12 January 2020 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [93][94] |
| Lumière Awards | 27 January 2020 | Best Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [95][96] |
| Best Director | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress | Noémie Merlant | Won | |||
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | |||
| London Film Critics Circle | 30 January 2020 | Film of the Year | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [97][98] |
| Foreign-Language Film of the Year | Won | ||||
| British Academy Film Awards | 2 February 2020 | Best Film Not in the English Language | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [99][100] |
| Satellite Awards | 7 February 2020 | Best Foreign Language Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [101] |
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | 8 February 2020 | Best International Film | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | [102][103] |
| César Awards | 28 February 2020 | Best Film | Bénédicte Couvreur and Céline Sciamma | Nominated | [104][105] |
| Best Director | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress | Adèle Haenel | Nominated | |||
| Noémie Merlant | Nominated | ||||
| Most Promising Actress | Luàna Bajrami | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Céline Sciamma | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Claire Mathon | Won | |||
| Best Sound | Julien Sicart, Valérie de Loof and Daniel Sobrino | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design | Dorothée Guiraud | Nominated | |||
| Best Production Design | Thomas Grézaud | Nominated | |||
| GLAAD Media Award | 19 March 2020 | Outstanding Film – Limited Release | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Nominated | [106] |
| Nastro d'Argento | 6 July 2020 | Best Supporting Actress | Valeria Golino | Won | [107][108] |
| Dublin Film Critics' Circle | 18 December 2020 | Best Film | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [109][110] |
| Robert Awards | 6 February 2021 | Best Non-English-language Feature | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Won | [111][112] |
