Portrait of a Lady on Fire
This year’s AFI Fest had no shortage of big screen romances—from the explosive (Queen & Slim) to the bittersweet (Marriage Story) to the doomed (A Hidden Life). Perhaps the most romantic of them all was Céline Sciamma’s Cannes sensation Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It’s a tale of an artist commissioned to paint a young woman’s marriage portrait, without her knowledge. After a pivotal turning point, Sciamma’s film sheds the cloistered, unsettled enigma of its first half and opens itself up in a gorgeous way. Portrait‘s back half is vibrant and hypnotic.
There are moments of humor and joy—including a brief encounter with psychedelic drugs, fireside card games, and a brutally honest discussion about the intelligence of the mythical figure of Orpheus. There are also moments of pain, loss, and an aching longing for connection. It wouldn’t be a great love story if it didn’t deliver on everything that love entails. All the way to its final cathartic shot, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is as nourishing a big-screen romance as I’ve ever seen. —Ryan Williams
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