![]() Even on the set, we were well aware I’m an artist looking at models and the models are actually looking at the artists.” In the film the fact that there’s all these layers that we are playing with - it was part of the project and the joy of making it. “It’s a matter of representation politics of the film, but it’s also really entertaining, I think,” Sciamma said. It shouldn’t be, and that’s why I wanted to represent it and represent the fact that it can be represented. “And that’s what is missing from art history, of course, but from our history too, if and when women are not in charge of representation. said there’s no museum in the world with the portrait called ‘The Abortion,’” said Sciamma. “There’s a novelist in France named Annie Ernaux. Turning to the themes of the film, Sciamma notes that the way in which “Portrait” becomes a meta examination of who looks and what is looked at in the depiction of history was very intentional. ![]() It’s the same with all the team - it’s really free between everybody.” “They’re really open and focused on building a nice environment for collaborators, for artists, for women, but not just between the three of us. “As soon as I met them, I understood straight away that it will not be, it will be a circle,” said Merlant. Merlant admits she had some trepidation about stepping into the strong connection between Sciamma and Haenel, but she was immediately welcomed in during an audition. Into that dynamic stepped Merlant, and together the three women project an electric intelligence, playful wit and strong, thoughtful perspectives. ![]() In person they retain an intense, palpable bond, which was on display when they sat for an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. The pair were in a romantic relationship for a number of years after “Water Lilies” but had publicly split before starting work on “Portrait.” Haenel previously worked with Sciamma on the director’s 2007 debut “Water Lilies” and has gone on to be among France’s most celebrated young actresses and a two-time César award winner. Indeed, “Portrait” has emerged as the biggest international success yet for Sciamma, a leading light of contemporary French cinema whose credits include 2011’s “Tomboy,” 2014’s “Girlhood” and the screenplay for 2016’s Oscar-nominated animated feature “My Life as a Zucchini.” The movie is being released by Neon, the savvy distributor behind Bong Joon Ho’s best picture winner “Parasite.” On Oscars night Sciamma was seen congratulating Bong at an after-party and Bong then returned the favor by acknowledging the success of “Portrait” in South Korea during a speech at a late-night after-after party at a restaurant in Koreatown. So the fact that there’s this alternative strategy with the release in February, departing from the awards season, it’s fine because the most important thing for me is that people see it.” ![]() “I want the film to be seen in theaters by people. “The box office, it really matters for me,” she said. After Marianne and Héloïse help a servant girl named Sophie (Luàna Bajrami) get an abortion, Héloïse insists that Marianne paint a depiction of the event. Notions of art and representation, who gets to tell stories and what stories get told, becomes a vital part of the narrative. The film is a spellbinding romance but also has a lot more on its mind. Spending time together at a remote chateau near the seaside, the two women form a fast, intense bond and begin to fall in love. The job is harder than it sounds: Marianne is told to paint the headstrong Héloïse without her knowing, as she already refused to sit for another painter. Set in late 1700s-Brittany, “Portrait” follows a young female artist, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), hired to paint a portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), recently out of a convent and expected to marry a man she has never met. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, the film won the screenplay prize and the Queer Palm award when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last summer, and has since been nominated for 10 César awards, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Spirit Award and picked up numerous critics prizes, including recognition for cinematographer Claire Mathon. A period movie so alive with ideas and emotions it feels like it is taking place in the present tense, “Portrait of a Lady On Fire” has been igniting viewers around the world for the better part of a year.
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