Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) on Netflix
Héloïse will not sit for a portrait, and her marriage to a Milanese nobleman is being arranged. The painter Marianne arrives on the island posing as her companion.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb8.0/10130,254 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
Marianne, a painter, comes to a remote island in Brittany. The Countess there wants a portrait of her daughter Héloïse, who is promised in marriage to a Milanese nobleman. Héloïse had been living in a convent before she was brought home and the betrothal was arranged. She has refused to sit for any portrait and does not want the match, so Marianne is brought to her as a paid companion while the true purpose of her stay is hidden. Marianne watches Héloïse on their walks along the coast and paints her at night from memory. The household also includes the housemaid Sophie.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and won the Queer Palm, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win that award.
- Sight & Sound's 2022 critics' poll voted Portrait of a Lady on Fire the 30th greatest film of all time, the highest-placed film released in the 2010s.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire was Adèle Haenel's final film role; the actress retired from the film industry in 2023.
- Céline Sciamma chose not to use a conventional score; the film's music centres instead on La Jeune Fille en Feu, an original single by Para One and Arthur Simonini for a cappella female choir with rhythmic clapping.
- Artist Hélène Delmaire made the film's paintings and sketches, painting 16 hours a day during filming and basing her work on the blocking of the scenes; her hands also appear in the film.
