Intro to Film 2025 • Professor Gregory Zinman • Emory University

Cinematography, Sound, and Symbolism in Portrait of a Lady on Fire

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Mary Frances Miller

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), directed by Céline Sciamma, is a wonderfully beautiful film, capturing the longing and searching looks shared between the two main characters, Marianne and Héloïse. The film has long takes that give the story room to breathe and establish a quiet, poignant atmosphere. The framing of the shots is usually focused on the two women and their shifts in facial expression and emotion. In the scenes where Marianne and Héloïse are playing the harpsichord and playing a card game, the framing is deliberate, only showing their faces in medium close ups and close ups.

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The intentional framing drives the narrative by showing the viewers the emotional journey of the characters. In one scene by the coastline, Marianne and Héloïse are standing side by side. Marianne’s face is covering Héloïse’s face in the frame but reveals Héloïse’s face every time she turns her head to look at her. I thought this was a genius use of framing because it cues the audience in on Marianne’s inner thoughts and her curiosity about Héloïse. We glimpse Héloïse as Marianne does, quick and fleeting.

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The long shots throughout Portrait of a Lady on Fire are broken up by a generous helping of close ups, most notably used to emphasize important props. One example is the insert shot on the vase of flowers the maid is using as a subject for her needle work. An earlier shot shows the flowers blooming and flourishing with vibrant colors, but towards the end of the film, the flowers are shown in another shot as dead and withering.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

We can take the flowers and extend their physical status to the relationship status of Marianne and Héloïse. Mise-en-scene and cinematography are working in tandem to enforce the mood and themes presented. It’s also worth noting that Marianne is in red throughout the duration of the film, indicating her as the object of desire for Héloïse.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: the act of looking - peachful - Medium

The distinct lack of non-diegetic sound emphasizes the current action and brings the viewer into the fold of the setting. When there is music, however, the emotional effect is greatly increased and has a greater symbolic meaning when taken in the context of the relationship between the two women. The bonfire scene is an emotional moment for both women, and the fire acts as a metaphor for their attraction and desire.

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The ending of the film was especially interesting because Marianne and Héloïse were both at the same orchestra concert listening to a piece that held emotional significance during their relationship. Héloïse was lost in the beauty of the orchestra, oblivious to Marianne sitting on the other side of the room. The camera moves in, and we see tears roll down Héloïse’s face.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – [FILMGRAB]

While talking with several people about this scene, they mentioned being thinking Héloïse would look over and see Marianne or acknowledge the audience in some way. It was an interesting take, especially if you take the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, as told earlier in the film, as a metaphor for the affair.

Was Héloïse truly ignorant to Marianne or was she instead choosing to keep the memory of Marianne that she created? How does the cinematography cater to the feminine gaze? What do you think of how the cinematography impacted the pacing of the film?

Comments

3 responses to “Cinematography, Sound, and Symbolism in Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

  1. Jooeun Choi Avatar
    Jooeun Choi

    I liked how you viewed the flower as a prop and how it showed the physical status of their relationship. As Sophie was stitching the flowers even after their death, I could relate the flowers to the portrait. A photograph only records a second. However, like how Sophie’s stitch had both live flowers and dead flowers, the portrait captures the time shared between Marianne and Héloïse.

    For your questions about the final scene, I believe Héloïse knew Marianne was there. That’s probably why that shared piece of music triggered Héloïse’s emotions, because it brought back the memory. Thinking back to the Orpheus and Eurydice story, Héloïse mentioned how Eurydice might have told Orpheus to turn around. Héloïse also tells Marianne to turn around, choosing to keep Marianne as a memory. This is why Héloïse deliberately didn’t see Marianne to avoid making it a present reality.

    I was also struck by how the film portrayed the women equally. Even though characters were in different classes, they were in the same frame together in equal proportions. This visual equality, as demonstrated through cinematography, highlights how the film focuses on the women’s shared experiences, rather than societal norms.

    Lastly, frequent use of close-ups and long takes made me feel the character’s emotions directly. I could see where the characters were looking, how their eyebrows moved, and even how quickly they were breathing. This helped me to follow the flow of their emotions deeply.

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  2. Monique Thompson Avatar
    Monique Thompson

    I am intrigued that you pointed out the framing and shots in the movie. There is a particular scene when Marianne is painting Héloïse, and she decides to pose. From this point and prior in the film, we have been following this story from Marianne’s point of view. Every shot is based on her gaze and how she sees Héloïse. The shots are close-ups of her artwork, her hands, her eyes looking at the muse, and some medium-long shots to see what she sees. In this scene, they discuss how she cannot make her smile, and Héloïse says that anger comes first with her. Marianne begins to describe her body language when feeling a particular emotion.

    Here, there are jump cuts between both characters to show reactions to what is being discussed. Here comes the cool part of the scene, where Héloïse takes control after she calls Marianne a “know-it-all.” Marianne says apologetically that she would hate to be in her place. Héloïse says that they are in the same place and calls Marianne over to literally close the gap and place them in the same framing. She asks, “If you look at me, who am I looking at?” Then Héloïse begins describing Marianne’s body language and what emotions those portray.

    Then, after Marianne walks away, the camera zooms in on Héloïse, and we jump cut to a medium-long shot from Héloïse’s perspective. Here, we finally get to see what she has been seeing after the viewpoint has only been from Marianne’s point of view.

    The director’s shot choices intentionally drive the story and toy with their connection through the shots to engage the audience in their affair.

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  3. Ethan Curtis Avatar
    Ethan Curtis

    I particularly enjoyed your interpretation of the coloring in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The mise-en-scene at the beginning of the movie decides for Marianne to be wearing red, not only representing her as an object of desire for Heloise but representing Marianne’s own passion for Heloise. This costuming decision also highlights the contrast between the passionate red against the calm blues and greens on the island that represent its peace and tranquility.

    For the final scene of the movie, the one of Heloise listening to the orchestral piece, I had a different interpretation. The story of Eurydice and Orpheus acts as a metaphor towards Marianne and Heloise’s relationship in this film. When recounting the story for the first time, it is mentioned that Eurydice might have told Orpheus to turn around. With this information, I figured that Heloise is purposefully choosing to not turn around and match Marianne’s gaze as a repressive rejection of their relationship on the island. Evidently, Heloise still holds those same feelings for Marianne, but it is a matter of the circumstances that forces Heloise, who is sitting without her husband, to continually live a life that she doesn’t truly want.

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