1034 Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Message
Author
User avatar
Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire]

#26 Post by Finch » Fri Dec 06, 2019 3:15 pm

Excellent news!

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire]

#27 Post by Luke M » Fri Dec 06, 2019 3:16 pm

I wondered if they were going to release it with Céline Sciamma being featured on the Criterion Channel.



User avatar
yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire]

#28 Post by yoloswegmaster » Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:09 pm

Is this the first time Neon and Criterion have worked together?

Edit: Nevermind, just read the press release.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire]

#29 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:23 pm

I'll buy the streaming UHD copy, of course, because it'll be 2020 - but still excellent news for those looking for a disc

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire]

#30 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:24 pm

Here is the press release...
Image

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#31 Post by ianungstad » Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:49 pm

The press release makes it sound like there could be other NEON/Criterion releases in the future. Not sure what else Criterion would want to release. Universal is releasing Parasite. It could end up being a situation like IFC where the "big" titles get a studio release followed by a Criterion "special" edition a year later.

Netflix/Amazon/Neon/IFC. They've been signing some impressive deals recently! Now if they could only work something out with A24.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#32 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:53 pm

Vox Lux + scholarly material = Heaven

User avatar
yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#33 Post by yoloswegmaster » Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:05 pm

ianungstad wrote:
Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:49 pm
The press release makes it sound like there could be other NEON/Criterion releases in the future. Not sure what else Criterion would want to release. Universal is releasing Parasite. It could end up being a situation like IFC where the "big" titles get a studio release followed by a Criterion "special" edition a year later.
Hopefully NEON is letting Criterion release 'Memories of Murder'.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#34 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Dec 06, 2019 11:29 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:53 pm
Vox Lux + scholarly material = Heaven
Don't do this to me. Anyway, Criterion, if you're reading this I'll write a booklet essay for this one for free

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#35 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Dec 07, 2019 12:40 am

Hell, I’ll pay to write one. Life is just a crazy existential horror movie constructed from broken puzzle pieces anyways, right Brady Corbet?

User avatar
TwoTecs
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 10:26 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#36 Post by TwoTecs » Sat Dec 07, 2019 1:31 am

No mention of the specific formats so I am free to speculate on this getting a UHD.

Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#37 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Sat Dec 07, 2019 1:42 am

that's great news!

I hope to see Adèle Haenel interviewed in the bonus by Criterion. In the short movie "2011 : Une heure avec Alice de Jean-Paul Civeyrac" (released by Kino as a bonus of the great movie "Mes Provinciales" on blu-ray) she talks about her favorite movies with the character played by Grégoire "2 de tension"...
In France, even "En Liberté!" was not released on blu-ray, so even if "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is announced on blu-ray, it could be canceled.

Now, if Criterion could include as a bonus "La Naissance des pieuvres" or release it as a separate release) that would be fantastic, because this movie was only released on DVD and no blu-ray upgrade is planned. And I have seen no country which has released it on blu-ray (and no WEB-HD is available).

User avatar
Never Cursed
Such is life on board the Redoutable
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am

Re: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire] (Céline Sciamma, 2019)

#38 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:42 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:08 am
The script is perfect and self-reflexive in how Sciamma engages her characters in discussions to try to channel unexplainable feelings such as love or music into the limits of language (or art, whether a film or a painting) only to show how futile these efforts are at expressing what must be accessed through intangible means. Ultimately the film isn’t interested in the validity of these arguments, only that they need to occur, if not verbally than in thought, to come to the realization that emotion is life.
I thought the Orpheus scenes (slyly organized into a screenwriter's group of three, like so many other motifs in this wonderful film) were the most direct communication of this idea. Marianne's depiction of a moment in the Orpheus myth is both perfect and unexplainable to anyone else in her world. The brilliance of the film is in allowing us not just insight into the personal meaning attached to Marianne's painting, and thus the depictions and interpretations of all kinds in the film, but also insight into the emotions that created that meaning, something impossible to us in our daily lives or to the characters in this film.
SpoilerShow
Of course, Héloïse's rawness in the final shot (brought upon by a work of art) is only further confirmation of this thesis.
Yeah, this is as great a movie as everyone upthread (save Nasir) has said, and anyone who will miss out on seeing this theatrically would do well to pre-order the Criterion as soon as it is announced. Does anyone know if Sciamma's other films have English-friendly distribution? I hadn't heard of her before this, and now I rather desperately want to see what else she's done.

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire] (Céline Sciamma, 2019)

#39 Post by soundchaser » Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:52 am

Never Cursed wrote:
Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:42 am
Does anyone know if Sciamma's other films have English-friendly distribution? I hadn't heard of her before this, and now I rather desperately want to see what else she's done.
Tomboy and Girlhood are on a few major streaming sites and have physical releases available. Water Lillies has an OOP DVD that’s pretty expensive.

Of course, if you have the Criterion Channel, all three are currently available there.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [Portrait of a Lady on Fire] (Céline Sciamma, 2019)

#40 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:02 am

Never Cursed wrote:
Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:42 am
Marianne's depiction of a moment in the Orpheus myth is both perfect and unexplainable to anyone else in her world. The brilliance of the film is in allowing us not just insight into the personal meaning attached to Marianne's painting, and thus the depictions and interpretations of all kinds in the film, but also insight into the emotions that created that meaning, something impossible to us in our daily lives or to the characters in this film.
Absolutely, the Orpheus conversation was a very creative way to bring about that idea and lay a seed for the way she chooses to capture her love. I’ll admit with some embarrassment that I didn’t see the most direct connection between the myth and the final painting until your comment but now I somehow love this movie more.

Ted Todorov
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:00 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#41 Post by Ted Todorov » Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:04 am

Glad to hear all the praise of Portrait of a Lady - I saw it at NYFF and absolutely loved it.

Very curious what you think of Sciamma's other films now that they are on the Criterion Channel - I saw all of them when they were released at the Walter Reade and was very impressed by all of them starting with Water Lillies.

A couple of my related photos from the NYFF/FIlm at Lincoln Center:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ted_todor ... 191654696/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ted_todor ... 191654696/

A bunch more from the first part of the NYFF, including Sciamma's film: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ted_todor ... 1191654696

Sciamma from the Girlhood screening: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ted_todor ... 0185600040

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#42 Post by DarkImbecile » Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:46 pm


User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Festival Circuit 2019

#43 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:00 am

hearthesilence wrote:
Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:20 pm
Immediately the artist's gaze is fused with the audience's, and we have a model bringing to mind the movie stars that studios wanted to put up on screen (as well as how they wanted those women to be filmed and be seen). The way she's scrutinized by an artist made me very self-conscious about the way general audiences scrutinize movie stars, particularly women. I can't say this was the intention, but it feels like a natural by-product from a film that Sciamma said was a conscious attempt in bringing perspectives and stories to the cinema that she felt were missing.
Having finally seen this, I was most taken with this aspect as well, but I didn't see it in any way as a critique, especially since it possesses a clear positive charge for both participants. Indeed, it reminded me strongly of Carol's similar lingering depictions of commonplace objects given erotic framing; only here the "objects" are the disconnected individual corporeal components that make a unified image (such as an ear or the hands, to use the two features given the most attention). This is brought back around near the end when Haenel delivers what I thought was the most prescient and moving line of the film
SpoilerShow
Wherein she tells her lover that eventually the painted cameo image she has of her will replace the actual image in her mind. And that's what painting, and all art, is: capturing in an image a moment in time, as seen by the artist, and preserved for audiences both familiar and strange in perpetuity. How often do our romanticized memories replace the reality? Is this any different than a painting that glosses over our flaws or a film that presents us with highlights of lives we haven't lived?

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#44 Post by DarkImbecile » Thu Feb 13, 2020 3:48 pm

For the New Yorkers with time on their hands this weekend:

Image

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#45 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:46 am

NYTimes on how Sciamma subverts expectations regarding gender and sexuality in romance
Elizabeth Harris wrote:Sciamma, who wrote and directed the movie, told me: “There’s all this surprise that lies within equality, that’s the new tension. You don’t know what’s going to happen if it’s not about the social hierarchy, gender domination or intellectual domination.”

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#46 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:55 am


User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#47 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Feb 19, 2020 2:01 pm

This very good Vox interview with Sciamma by Emily VanDerWerff gets into some of the more technical aspects of the cinematography (as well as some plot elements elsewhere in the interview, if you haven't seen it and prefer to avoid those):
Emily VanDerWerff
I’ve been wondering how you captured some of those shots in such low light. Was it shot digitally?

Céline Sciamma
Yeah. It was a very strong choice to shoot in digital, especially with a period piece. We tried 35 [millimeter film]. When we did the tryouts, my director of photography Claire Mathon and I wanted to shoot digital for one reason.

We wanted to give back to these women from the past their hearts, their desire, the rush of blood to the cheek. It was a love story, of course, but it was also a movie about the rise of desire. We wanted to look at desire, which is something we rarely see because of the strong convention in cinema of love at first sight. We always agree that of course you’re going to totally fall in love. Digital was about the rush of blood. Like, can you feel this?

We began with shooting the exteriors for eight days. I wanted it to be kind of gothic, so it’s colorful, but it’s more Brontë sisters, the gray and the rain. And it was super sunny [when we shot the exteriors]! Cinema is about welcoming things with enthusiasm, especially things that you don’t have power over. You have so much power over everything that sometimes it can be super disturbing that you don’t get what you expect, especially with period pieces where you design everything. And the fact that the sun came in, we were like, this is good news, and we have to bring back this light now to our castle in the Parisian periphery [where the interiors were shot].

The lighting was taking a lot of time, because the castle was very old, so we couldn’t put anything on the walls — no lighting, nothing. So it was all coming from the outside. You know, this big structure with a lot of light involved. So every scene was very smoothly lit [to mimic the look of the bright sun]. Sometimes it’s painful, because you have less time with the actors and you dedicate a lot of time to the light. In cinema, the time you devote says a lot. And every shot was very, very precisely lit.

Emily VanDerWerff
Greta Gerwig gave an interview where she said that before she shot Little Women, Steven Spielberg told her that if you’re making a movie set in the 1800s, it really needs to be shot on film. Normally, I’d agree with that, but I think your film captures how it would feel to be in a room where there’s only the one light source, a fireplace or candle or something. How did you create that world where there might be only the one light source over in the corner or the wall, and it’s dark everywhere else?

Céline Sciamma
You had to be very inventive. Period pieces are all about choosing what you’re going to do with the candles. And a character walking with a candle took so much [light] around. Sometimes the actors, they couldn’t move. They were surrounded with rope lights that were invented by the camera crew. You invent your own way of lighting things, which is a lesson you can learn from Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, where he actually invented optics to find the right candle lighting. I entered the room, and I was amazed. It was really like a fantasy world with a lot of rope lights everywhere. And it’s pretty radical in a way, because it’s not naturalistic, yet it feels so true.
They also get into why Sciamma views Titanic as a queer love story:
Emily VanDerWerff
I have been thinking about love stories where it feels like the two lovers actually see each other, and they almost always end tragically, like we can’t believe that could be a sustainable dynamic in some way.

Céline Sciamma
Yeah. For instance, Titanic. Titanic is the hugest success, and it’s because it’s totally queer. Leonardo DiCaprio was totally androgynous at the time. DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were both not known — not stars — so there was no power dynamic between them. Like, if you look at the sex scene in Titanic, she’s on top. He’s the one who’s being totally fragile and insecure. I think it was a huge success because it’s a love story with equality and with emancipation.

I think the movies are in dialogue. I thought a lot about Titanic because it’s also the present of a love story and the memory of a love story. A successful love story should not be about eternal possession. No, it should be about emancipation. And it is an emancipation story, because maybe [Kate Winslet’s character in Titanic] lost this love, but we see her being free and riding horses and wearing pants. It’s all about emancipation.

The success of a love story is not about how long it lasts. It’s not about ending your life together. Him dying is tragic, but it’s not the end of the story. In equality, there is emancipation.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#48 Post by domino harvey » Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:58 pm

Letterboxd is having some fun with this movie in their app

Image

User avatar
Yaanu
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:18 am

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#49 Post by Yaanu » Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:17 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:58 pm
Letterboxd is having some fun with this movie in their app
Not just their app. The website has it as well.
And watch the site logo on their page for "Parasite".

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

#50 Post by Ribs » Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:16 pm

Thank god they were able to get a new subtitle translation

Post Reply