Movies the Academy ignored Vol. 4: Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

If you thought Call me by your name was heartbreaking don´t watch Portrait of a Lady on Fire cause you´ll die of grief, am I´m not exaggerating.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire or Portrait de la jeune fille en feu is written and directed by Céline Sciamma and stars Noémie Merlant as a painter who has to make a portrait of an aristocrat woman, Adèle Haenel, and their forbidden affair in the late 18th century. It won the Queer Palm at Cannes at was also selected for the Palme D´Or but didn't win as Parasite did, I personally prefer Portrait of a Lady on Fire rather than Parasite. The movie has been quite popular and many critics agree on it being one of the best, if not the best, movies in 2019.

The movie is about a forbidden affair between two young women in the 18th century on the isolated island of Britanny. At first, the movie feels like a very cold movie not only because of all the landscapes and the atmosphere, an empty big house, a cold beach, and all the weather in the movie, which is really windy but also because of the relationship the two women have at first. Marianne, the painter, has to make a portrait of Héloïse, who is to be married to a Milanese nobleman and she doesn´t want to. Marianne has to make the portrait secretly as Héloïse refuses to pose for the portrait as she doesn´t wants to get married. Héloïse spends the first half of the movie trying to figure out what is Marianne doing at her home.

The movie is 2 hours long and most of the movie is just the two women looking at each other, not really saying anything but actually saying a lot just by the looks they give to each other. The performances in this movie are REALLY REALLY GOOD, probably my favorite female performances of 2019. The sexual tension between the main characters is really palpable and as I´ve said, most of the scenes don´t really have much dialogue but just the way they look at each other says a lot.

I´ve already said that the cinematography is kinda cold in the first half of the movie but as the relationship between these two women becomes closer and eventually becomes an affectionate relationship the cinematography starts to become warmer and warmer. There are some really beautiful shots and I really like the fact that the cinematography changes as the characters change,

Another really positive aspect this movie has is the music. The music doesn´t has lots of music but there are some scenes regarding music that are incredibly meaningful and powerful, especially the end scene with the Vivaldi song.

I personally believe that this movie should have been nominated in the 2019 Oscars in the following categories: Best International Feature Film, Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Noémie Merlant, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Adèle Haenel, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.

So, to sum up, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is an amazing movie, with an amazing cast and amazing cinematography and deserves much more recognition.

10/10