“Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” : Portrait Of An 18th Century French Romance

From the start of the film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, you sense the haunting presence, history, and inspiration to come as a portrait named as the movie title is revealed in an art studio. It’s been painted by the current teacher who is, at the beginning, acting as a model for younger artists gathered around her. Then, the plot shifts to a past time in which this same woman is traveling extensively on foot to the home of a mysterious woman yet to be revealed.

The main woman has been commissioned to paint the other’s portrait, the latter soon revealed as having been through circumstances of abandoning a convent and living through a sister’s death among other implied mysteries of her personality and history. More mysterious still, this portrait subject’s mother reveals she must be painted without knowing she is, a previous painter having given up when she refused to pose, and her dealing with a pending marriage she rejects. 

The movie is a truly fascinating slow reveal of circumstances and themes about personhood, portraiture, and the ways in which art and especially portraits can transcend life and carry bits of life into them, watching, waiting, and captivating timelessly. What is the truth of the sister’s untimely cliffside death? Why is the mother haunted by the gaze of her own young self portrait? The current portrait subject herself has been dreaming of that cliff’s edge for years. There is some great poignancy shown throughout toward this desire to escape the female restraints of 18th century France.

The painting from the beginning is of the commissioned subject standing on sand in front of a moonlit scene, the edge tip of her dress aflame, beautiful in its simplicity and mystery. It’s revealed however that this is far from the simple, structured piece ultimately shown to the mother. Passion has been ignited by the painter and subject, transcending their experiences and only time will tell their fate and decisions toward it.

They have grown closer discussing the pleasant equality found in a convent, the restrictions of arranged marriage, female economy, and independence. What will they do in the face of society’s restrictions and expectations? Nothing compares to the female strength and power displayed by these women until the end, and no scene compares to the female communion and chanting by a community of women, the main characters joining in around their large night campfire, and culminating in the moment captured by the portrait of a lady on fire.