Portrait of a Lady on Fire, C茅line Sciamma; 99 mins

With this pre-Revolution period tale of an aristocrat and an artist鈥檚 relationship, director Sciamma makes a radical departure from her three previous films 鈥� the highly acclaimed, social realist coming-of-age trilogy Water Lilies, Tomboy and Girlhood.

And it turns out to be an inspired take on the 鈥渇emale gaze鈥�.

Professional portrait artist Marianne (No茅mie Merlant) arrives on a semi-secret mission in rural Brittany, ostensibly to act as a walking companion to a noblewoman鈥檚 daughter H茅lo茂se (Ad猫le Haenel), who recently returned home from a convent and is reeling at the loss of her sister who committed suicide, possibly to avoid an arranged marriage.

Marianne鈥檚 role is to create a portrait to be sent to H茅lo茂se prospective husband in Milan 鈥� a 鈥減rofile picture鈥� for her own arranged marriage. But she must do it furtively, as H茅lo茂se would never agree to a formal sitting. So the pair go for long walks, which allow Marianne to closely study her subject鈥檚 face, to help her commit it to canvas later in private.

H茅lo茂se soon notices these long gazes 鈥� is she or is she not misreading them? As their intimacy develops, and the gazes become mutual and fixed, the pair take on a shared project to help household servant Sophie (Lu脿na Bajrami).

Once Marianne confesses her true purpose to H茅lo茂se, the artist-muse relationship, and all the psychological and interpersonal manoeuvring this presents, becomes a fascinating theme.

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