Fans have hailed this beautiful French film as “criminally underrated”, and it is available to stream on ITVX. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a French historical romantic drama film written and directed by Céline Sciamma. It stars Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel and is set in France in the late 18th century.
The film’s synopsis reads: “France, 1770. Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride-to-be, and Marianne must paint her without her knowing. She observes her by day, to paint her secretly.”
Portrait of a Lady on Fire was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and it went on to win the Queer Palm at Cannes, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win the award. Sciamma also won the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes.
The film has an incredible 97% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ consensus states: “A singularly rich period piece, Portrait of a Lady on Fire finds stirring, thought-provoking drama within a powerfully acted romance.”
One critic said: “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.”
Another critic wrote in their review: “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.”
“Every artist begins with a blank canvas. It is what they do with it that defines them. With Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Céline Sciamma has painted her masterpiece,” a third added.
“The period piece is a mesmerising story about desire and heartbreak, and one of the best queer films of the year,” said another.
One fan described Portrait of a Lady on Fire as the “best movie of the century”, while another labelled it “a perfect film, flawlessly executed in every regard”.
Another fan said the film was “criminally underrated” and “gorgeous”.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is available to stream on ITVX.