Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Passion brews quietly between an artist and her subject, until together they create a space in which it can briefly flourish, in this sumptuous eighteenth-century romance from Céline Sciamma, one of contemporary French cinema’s most acclaimed auteurs. Summoned to an isolated seaside estate on a secret assignment, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) must find a way to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), who is resisting chattel marriage, by furtively observing her. What unfolds in exquisite tension is an exchange of sustained gazes in which the two women come to know each other’s gestures, expressions, and bodies with rapturous intimacy, ultimately forging a subversive creative collaboration as well as a delirious romance. Charged with a yearning that almost transcends time and space, Portrait of a Lady on Fire mines the emotional and artistic possibilities that emerge when women can freely live together and see one another in a world without men.

Film Info

  • France
  • 2019
  • 121 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • French
  • Spine #1034

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • New conversation between director Céline Sciamma and film critic Dana Stevens
  • New interviews with actors Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant
  • Interview with cinematographer Claire Mathon from the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
  • Interview from 2019 with artist Hélène Delmaire on creating the paintings for the film
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Ela Bittencourt

New cover by Hélène Delmaire

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • New conversation between director Céline Sciamma and film critic Dana Stevens
  • New interviews with actors Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant
  • Interview with cinematographer Claire Mathon from the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
  • Interview from 2019 with artist Hélène Delmaire on creating the paintings for the film
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Ela Bittencourt

New cover by Hélène Delmaire

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Cast
Noémie Merlant
Marianne
Adèle Haenel
Héloïse
Luàna Bajrami
Sophie
Valeria Golino
The countess
Credits
Director
Céline Sciamma
Writer
Céline Sciamma
Producer
Bénédicte Couvreur
Director of photography
Claire Mathon
Paintings by
Hélène Delmaire
Casting director
Christel Baras
Costume designer
Dorothée Guiraud
Set designer
Thomas Grézaud
Editor
Julien Lacheray
Original score
Jean-Baptiste de Laubier
Original score
Arthur Simonini
Sound
Julien Scart
Sound
Valérie Deloof
Sound
Daniel Sobrino

Current

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Daring to See
Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Daring to See

Art becomes a tool for remaking one’s world in this unforgettable depiction of lesbian love, a film that director Céline Sciamma has called “a manifesto about the female gaze.”

By Ela Bittencourt

Carrie Coon’s Top 10
Carrie Coon’s Top 10

The Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor chooses a list of favorites with an emphasis on unforgettable female performances.

The Brush Behind the Film: How Painter Hélène Delmaire Created Our Portrait of a Lady on Fire Cover
The Brush Behind the Film: How Painter Hélène Delmaire Created Our Portrait of a Lady on Fire Cover

The artist’s intensive collaboration with director Céline Sciamma yielded a wealth of preliminary studies that came in handy for the cover image of our edition.

By Benjamin Mercer

Josephine Decker’s Top 10
Josephine Decker’s Top 10

The director of Madeline’s Madeline and Shirley chooses a selection of old favorites that combine beauty with ugliness, the logical with the irrational.