Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Full review: https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/paint-me-like-one-of-your-french-girls-portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review Celine Sciamma’s fourth feature film, _Portrait of a Lady on Fire_, is a triumph. Few romance movies capture the totality of love, loss, and remembrance in the way Sciamma does in this film. The story is simple: Marianne (Noémie Merlant) has been hired to paint a portrait of Heloise (Adèle Haenel) to be sent to the Milanese nobleman she is to marry. He will not marry her until he sees what she looks like. Other artists have tried and failed to paint Heloise, but she has resisted because she doesn’t want to be married. Marianne pretends to be Heloise’s walking companion, all the while studying Heloise so she can paint her in secret. Eventually, though, Marianne’s secret is revealed and Heloise agrees to sit for her.