Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Things kick off simply, if not innocently, in Céline Sciamma’s masterful period film.

Once in a while there is a work of art so specific, so complex, so new in its oldness and old in its newness, that it moves the craft, our craft, to another level of seeing.

There's almost no single moment in Portrait of a Lady on Fire that couldn't be captured, mounted, and hung on a wall as high art.

There are many great acting moments in this film, but you should especially savor the final shot, the long close-up of Haenel in profile. Put simply, it's why we go to the movies.

...an exquisite love story.

Even without showing men onscreen, Sciamma depicts the myriad ways in which the patriarchy constricts the lives of her female protagonists.

With elements of the surreal and supernatural dotted in among the erotic, the film's panoply of extraordinary images adds up to a haunting melancholic masterclass.

Claire Mathon’s stunning cinematography is achingly beautiful to gaze upon. Each frame is worthy of being hung in an art gallery, and each shot conveys so much meaning.

They say memory is the poet’s choice of love. After watching this masterpiece, I suspect that the present moment is the artist’s choice of love.

Director Céline Sciamma’s romantic feature celebrates the burning desires between two women with patience and tenderness unlike any film has shown in recent years.