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“I hope you feel seen. The movie is all about the power of the gaze. I mean, you look at the film, but the film is also looking at you. I hope you feel looked at by the film, and in the end I want you to leave the room thinking about yourself. …It’s cinema unveiling itself so that suddenly there is room for you, there is room for your own love stories, for your own souvenir — remembrance. I want you to leave the room full of this story, but also full of your story.” — Céline Sciamma

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Portrait de la jeune fille en feu. Dir. Celine Scimma

Noemie Merlant + Adele Haenel

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Cinematography Appreciation:

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE | 2019

Dir. Céline Sciamma

DoP. Claire Mathon

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Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

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C'est un sentiment doux à vivre, l'égalité.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019) | title treatment series [18/?]

I see [the movie] as a manifesto about the female gaze. I see this as such a strong opportunity to make new stuff, new images, new narratives. They are such powerful images, and they are so not seen. And you are in charge. You have a strong responsibility. But also, there are so many opportunities to be playful. To embody ideas that matter a lot to myself, but also to a lot of people. I see it as a really great dynamic for creating and also very fun visually. For instance, ask yourself the question of “how do you embody sorority?” The answer being, a long take, a wide shot, of three women in the kitchen with social hierarchy being totally turned around, with the aristocratic women cooking, whereas the maid is an artist and the artist is looking at the maid. And they’re silent. This is such a powerful image, and it’s so easy to make. People are telling me, “Oh, your film is a utopia.” And I’m like, “Yeah, but our utopias are not ideas we have in our minds. They’re not things we wish we were living. They’re rooted in our own experience.” I know about sorority, I know about an all-women world. It’s not a utopia. It’s part of my life. And that’s what I rely on to make these images. — Céline Sciamma

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PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019) | title treatment series [14/?]

You would prefer me to resist? Yes. Are you asking me to? Answer me. No.

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Céline Sciamma: “Here is the ambiguity—yes, she would prefer her to resist. No, I do not ask you to? Or no, I do not answer you?”

(commentary translation courtesy of @ladyonfire28 & @bereaving)

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PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019) | title treatment series [12/?]

“If you live in a world that won’t allow you to live out your desire, it doesn’t mean the desire is gone, and just because you don’t run, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to. I wanted to give them back their hearts, souls and bodies. This movie is not about wondering if such a relationship would be possible – it’s not, and they know it. But I wanted to show how luminous and how satisfying it could be." "I decided to look at this love, and all its possibility, rather than doing the impossible love story narrative. Which is a way to give back their presence and their present and their desire to these women, because you can’t run like you want to. I really wanted to show how a love story that is fulfilling is a love story that emancipates you.”

— Céline Sciamma

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”Desire is the living thing at the end of the tunnel, waiting with open arms, and to some, I imagine that isn’t a happy ending. Wanting leading into more wanting isn’t exactly a neatly tied ribbon, but it is a certainty.“

— Hanif Abdurraqib