The Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film dedicated to the fixation of the female gaze; two women, one a painter, Marianne, the other a muse, Héloïse, fall deeply in love after the painter was initially hired by the muse’s mother to follow her around and paint a portrait of her. Following her around was the main task due to the muse’s main issue: she hated being painted.
With the introduction of the film, I was immediately presented with close-ups of several little girls with a heavy depth of view to focus closely on their features. They were being instructed by a voice: “Not too fast,” “Take time to look at me.” Without yet seeing the instructor, the audience can still identify it was a woman speaking. While this plays a huge role in contributing to the overall theme, the female gaze, a classroom filled with little girls trying their best to capture every single detail of their female muse, that is not the premise of this blog. It is to analyze and understand how color theory heavily contributes to the plot and emotions of the main characters.
Once the camera shifted from the perspective of the muse to the perspective of the painter’s, there was a silent moment of the muse sitting still in a deep blue gown in front of blue drapes. As if her head and arms were floating in an open sea. This scene and color scheme evoke a sense of yearning and sadness, as this is often associated with the color. After doing a deep dive into the science of color theory, Forbes magazine produced an article on How The Neuroscience Of Color Impacts Consumer Behavior that stated, “Blue has been shown to increase productivity and focus, making it a popular choice for office spaces and study environments.” This invites a new way of thinking, as it places the little girls painting the muse into a state of focus. Marianne gaining all the attention from their gaze while inducing a sense of despair in the audience.
From this point on, Marianne begins to tell the story of one of her paintings, where we travel back in time to a point when she went to the home of a mother, anguished at the fact that she couldn’t get a portrait of her daughter. Throughout the film, the daughter, Héloïse, is wearing a blue gown similar to the one Marianne had on in the opening scene, which contributes to her overall task at hand. She was hired to follow Héloïse around and create a portrait of her. Based on the plot, she is just doing her job, but incorporating the knowledge of what certain colors can do to your brain, she quite literally is focusing on Héloïse not only for her beauty, but because of the color she wears. At the time the story is being told, Marianne is wearing a red gown, “shown to increase heart rate and arousal in the brain,” while representing passion and love. While watching the movie, I can say I did not feel that initial arousal from Marianne, but it certainly puts me in the position to understand the thoughts and feelings Héloïse felt throughout the movie as her admiration for Marianne grew stronger.
Color theory within the media industry plays a huge role in developing a deep connection to what is being presented to society. Colors that evoke a sense of wanting are what grab people’s attention and draw them in to consume.
An example of this being used within a different medium is in the song Burning Blue by Mariah the Scientist, a popular singer among the younger generation. She released this song, singing the post-chorus: “I couldn’t care less as long as you’re burning blue… I’m burning blue.” She sings of a significant other being her main focus: “I’ll forget what everyone else said.” She implies her lover represents the embodiment of the color blue, increasing her focus on them while having a burning passion for them.
While deviating from the film, this connection sat heavy on my mind as I watched the scene of Héloïse burning in her blue dress.
Leave a Reply