BIG SCREEN. SMALL SCREEN. YOUR REVIEWS BIBLE STARTS HERE
★★★★★
EXCELLENT
★★★★
GOOD
★★★
OKAY
★★
POOR
★
AWFUL
[
EDITED BY IAN FREER
]
“HE CHOOSES THE memory of her. That’s why
he turns. He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but
the poet’s.” Marianne (Merlant) is interpreting
the Greek myth ‘Orpheus And Eurydice’, which
Héloïse (Haenel) is reading aloud to Marianne
and Sophie (Luàna Bajrami). The three young
women are sitting in the candlelit kitchen
of the castle home owned by Héloïse’s mother
La Comtesse (Golino), and the vibes are very
‘18th-century girlie sleepover’, with all the
late-night intimacy of such a setting.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is about a private
love language created by two women and the
works of art, literature and music that help
it to fi nd its fullest expression. The artworks
that helped them to intimately know each other
become part of their private love language
forevermore. Like in Paul Thomas Anderson’s
Phantom Thread, which is full of secret messages,
only obvious once you know where to fi nd
them, this glorious, spare and heartfelt story isPORTRAIT OF A
LADY ON FIRE
DIRECTOR Céline Sciamma
CAST Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Valeria GolinoPLOT Circa 1770 on a French island: A female
painter (Merlant) is commissioned by a countess
(Golino) to secretly create a wedding portrait
of her daughter (Haenel), while pretending to be
her companion. As the daughter and painter
spend time together, desire blooms.OUT 1 APRIL (DVD)
★★★★★ CERT M / 122 MINS[FILM]
1 MAR —31 MAR