From the whole movie, what we first notice is the significant slow and meticulous speed of motion. Different from other narrative films, the Portrait of a Lady on Fire uses extreme slow motion when filming the movie. Moving the camera slowly, drawing the portrait slowly, and delivering the story slowly.
Looking specifically at the cinematography of this movie, we see plenty of close-ups, whether it’s medium close-ups, normal close-ups, or extreme close-ups. The main purpose of using close-ups is to show the love between Marianne and Heloise. Instead of showing how passionate or how beautiful their relationship is, this film develops their love through emotions. From the very beginning, when Marianne is trying to capture Marianne’s face for the portrait, Heloise looks confused and Marianne looks a bit guilty. When they found out their innate pure but forbidden love of each other, they found a sense of relief. The use of medium close-ups connects their development of love by filming each of them separately and filming them together.
More than simple facial expressions, the eye contact between Marianne and Heloise has been made significant by close-ups. Based on the social norm of that given time, it is not acceptable for two women to fall in love with each other. When Marianne and Heloise are spending time together without a third person, we see their love gaze, being bright and pure; when Mom is back, and Heloise has to go to her wedding, we see the reluctant gaze. From the start to the end, their love isn’t moved by anything, whether it is the social norm, or it is the upcoming wedding. Similar to their emotion, the cinematography remains still when showing their love through gazes. From those gazes, we saw their unswerving pure love, and we saw the equality between the girls’ relationship.
Besides cinematography, there are plenty of “callbacks” in the movie: Orpheus turns around to see whether his wife is following him, and then they are separated; Marianne turns around and sees Heloise with the wedding dress, and they never meet again. The portrait Marianne drew for Heloise on page 28, and the painting of Heloise with her finger pointing at “28”. Different paintings are shown at different times of the story… What’s the meaning of filming those paintings? How are these callbacks and specific paintings linked to the overall message and cinematography?
I strongly agree with what you mentioned about the use of close-ups and medium close-ups. I also recognized the use of various eye contact along with the change in zoom lens to represent emotion dynamics between the two protagonists. For example, after Marianne finished posing for Heloise, she asked Heloise to look at her, and the camera zoomed in for a long time at very slow speed, guiding the audience’s eyes towards Heloise’s shy and complicated expression. This is the first time she had this expression while looking at the camera, displaying her eye-contact with Marianne and the special feeling that grows between them in silence. But I want to talk more about some of my own interpretations regarding the questions you have.
When we talk about paintings, the one that is most worth discussion would be the portraits of Heloise that were drawn by different painters. The previous artist did not paint the face because Heloise refused to pose and resisted the forced marriage. Marianne’s first painting is also one of the manifestations of the gaze, because she represents the fiance’s point of view, observing Heloise with the fiance’s eyes and depicting her. The lens focuses on the subject of the character for a long time in a kind of “peep” perspective since she was doing the observation in secret. At this point, the portraits and their frames were metaphors, figurative representations of the male gaze, and correspondingly, the act of burning can mean the escape from the male gaze and an awakening of concrete self-consciousness by the female characters. Later on, as Marianne gets to know more about Heloise and they start painting the portrait together, with medium close-ups of Heloise making funny facial expressions and close-ups of Marianne adding details while Heloise is next to her, the male gaze is replaced by female gaze. It pulls women out of their position as people who are peeped and analyzed to become active observers and creators, and empowers women to be the shapers of their own and others’ diverse beauty.
The paintings displayed in the exhibition that hang as background of Marianne include pictures of The myth of Orpheus that they read in the kitchen at night. A passed by connoisseur points out that the painting of Orpheus and Eurydice on the wall depicts the scene of separation of lovers, which is not usually painted, serving as a love code for the relationship between Marianne and Heloise. Moreover, Marianne was wearing a blue dress while Heloise was in her white wedding dress, and their recurring dresses were green and red, each corresponding to the painting of Orpheus and Eurydice and what they are wearing. The same use of color in clothing outlines the ambiguous and erotic relationship between the two female protagonists, and implies that the way they finally choose to end this forbidden love is the same as the “poet’s way” in the myth.
I agree with your take on the slow camera movement in a Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I found this slow movement particularly interesting in the buildup of the film, in which Marianne and Heloise slowly grow emotionally attached. The scene where Heloise runs to the edge of a cliff is one of the most intense scenes in the film, and yet, the camera movement remains tamer than what a viewer would expect from a potential character’s suicide. The slow camera movement also continues when the two become romantically involved. Take the segment where Marianne is painting but Heloise can’t stop smiling. Marianne steadily and quietly approaches as the camera follows her, eventually focusing on Heloise.
Additionally, I concur with your observation on the use of close-ups. A Portrait of a Lady on Fire frequently utilizes close-ups to emphasize the emotional attraction between Heloise and Marianne. This emotional attraction happens gradually and almost entirely with facial queues that are best noticed with shrewd close-ups. The best example I remember was from the “if you look at me scene.” In this scene, Marienne’s facial expressions constantly change from desire to denial, as she wrestles with the thought of being involved with another woman. Seeing these facial expressions so vividly was only made possible due to the use of the medium close-up.
It’s also intriguing that you bring up the “love gaze” in your response. One of my biggest takeaways from a Portrait of a Lady on Fire was the importance of the female gaze in shaping the film’s identity. Hollywood often presents women in a “male gaze” viewpoint in which women on screen are objectified. But Celine Sciamma, the film’s director, purposefully flips the cliché upside down. She instead builds the story around solely female characters, subtly adding more personality through intricate camerawork and close-ups. With this method, the characters are more relatable to the audience, who can also better comprehend the subtleties of their relationship and the value of their enduring love in the face of social pressures.
Zixing, this was an excellent analysis. The cinematography, and in particular the usage of close-up shots, helped enhance the movie and demonstrate the character’s feelings much more strongly. To add to the examples you mentioned, a few scenes come to mind when I think of the difference between close-ups and longer shots in the film. For instance, in the scene where Heloise goes out to the beach by herself, and Marianne quietly follows her, it is still unclear how their relationship will play out. Heloise is shown in a long shot, and it is difficult to derive her emotions. Does she love Marianne or not? Then, suddenly, Marianne runs towards her, and the camera cuts to a close-up shot. They start crying and holding each other, and their true feelings are revealed. The close-up shot in this example really helps intensify the scene and allow the viewer to see their emotions to the fullest.
The glances, the eye contact, even the breathing were apparent and tension building throughout the film. What struck me most profoundly was the deliberate departure from the all-too-common trope of female body objectification. This film was a refreshing departure from the norm; it did not revel in the commercialized obsession with naked bodies and ecstatic female expressions. Instead, it took a different, more profound path. Indeed, the camerawork carefully lingers on the two women as they kiss. It was as though the camera sought to separate their love from the shallowness of physical attraction, inviting the audience to delve deeper into the complexities of their relationship.
This is a great analysis of the film. Many elements of cinematography were very important to create the power of the gaze and the strength of their relationship. First, the use of close up shots played a large role in portraying the depth and intimacy that is apparent in the female gaze. When you are able to see the characters whole face in frame, you can see the subtle movements and feel the power that the gaze has. The slow motion of each shot created an environment that was so profound in love. If it were in regular motion, you wouldn’t be able to capture the gaze as intensely. The medium close up shots were very valuable to observe their relationship. Since both characters were in frame, it felt as if they were more connected and you were able to watch as they both slowly began to fall in love at the same time. The setting played a role in this too. I completely agree that the time period in which this movie takes place plays a large role. I feel that because same-sex love is so fought against, their love for each other and each gaze was that much more powerful.
Excellent analysis, Zixing. The way in which you connected the length, progression, and techniques consistent with the cinematography and how they were associated with the emotions conveyed within the film was particularly interesting. I thought that Céline Scaimma and Claire Mathon’s ability to evoke emotion from these cinematic sequences was a revelation and progression within narrative storytelling unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I appreciate how you were able to descriptively analyze these techniques and give proper plaudits to the great work done on this film. While this film certainly had a slow burn, and the base plot could be seen as a bit one-dimensional, this was a character study and an emotional journey that required the ability to focus on the characters and their love for each other instead of the overall story. When focusing on the character progression and how essential the film’s cinematography was toward conveying this emotional journey, you begin to appreciate the crowning achievement of creating a new timeless method that links conveying the character’s emotions and innovative cinematography techniques.