Film: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Last night, I was supposed to be back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Be More Chill, at The Other Palace. My only Meetup this week! But of course, that got cancelled too, because of the threat of coronavirus - the theatre, like most, is closed until further notice. I've already been refunded. With so little else happening, I thought I'd go for film instead. Not that it proved easy to get a film showing, either. But I persevered.. although most cinemas are closed already, I discovered that Rich Mix was staying open - for film, at least, although they'd already cancelled another, live, event I was to attend, next month. And they were showing Portrait of a Lady on Fire! which I've been interested in for a while now - the trailer looked excellent. And it's walking distance from me. Planned to go to that last night.

Things change rapidly though, some businesses are less on the ball than others, and gee, Rich Mix decided to close at 5pm. Indefinitely. Bah humbug. Never mind, although more expensive, Curzon was still open - took an early decision to close after the last showings last night. So I popped off to Curzon Aldgate, my closest. Just as close as Rich Mix, so I could walk.

A sign on the counter asked people to pay with contactless, for hygiene purposes, so I did - and was served by someone wearing surgical gloves. Obligingly selected my seat by tapping the screen with the corner of my card, too. And moseyed straight down to the screen - it was slightly past the scheduled start time, so I'd arrive during the ads. As I carried down the corridor to the end - it was in the last screen - I saw a woman walking in front of me - she entered the screen I was headed for. When I got there and opened the door, she was still standing right inside, in confusion.. she turned to me and checked that she was in the right place. Because it was completely empty! Just the two of us - very safe, as she remarked! So much for my mother muttering about crowds. We sat at opposite ends of the room..

After some interesting trailers (and some not so interesting), we were into the feature. And wow, what an experience. Intense, brooding - sensory overload starts with the beginning of the story proper, which is actually a flashback - we're plunged into the perspective of a young woman, being rowed somewhere in reasonably choppy seas. Along with the waves, the camera rocks up and down violently - those who suffer from motion sickness might want to look away at this point. The rowers are the only men we're to meet over the course of the film - and they rapidly prove their lack of worth, as when her attention is diverted for a moment, trying to see how far they have to go to land (which we're all wondering by now), and the crate that she's been trying to protect splashes overboard, nary a one of them offers to help. So it's up to her to plunge into the water herself - in all her layers. It's set in the 18th century, by the look of the clothes.

One of them proves moderately helpful on land, carrying her baggage (and the damp crate) part of the way to where she's going - which is a mansion on the hill, of faded glory. It's after dark by the time she arrives - and this is where the visual stimuli kick in, every candlelit scene looking like an oil painting. Turns out she's a painter - unusual for a woman at the time, but it seems she's taking over her father's business. And her purpose here is to paint a wedding portrait for the young lady of the household, to be sent to her prospective bridegroom, so he can see whether he likes the look of her. She's just been sent from the convent, her father appears to be dead, and she lives there with her mother - who's trying to arrange the match, and has hired the painter - and a servant girl.

Small complication - the young lady doesn't want the marriage, doesn't want the portrait, and point blank refused to pose for the last painter sent there. So her mother hit on this subterfuge, to hire a female painter who would pretend to be hired as a companion, and who could subtly observe her, and paint her after the fact, without her having to pose. And so it starts - and this story allows our painter to spend long moments gazing fixedly at her subject. And wow, what a gaze - she has an electrifying stare, deep, brown eyes wide and fixed on her subject. Mesmerising. And our young aristocrat is no more immune to these looks than are we - you can guess what happens next, as the relationship between them deepens to something more.

I've always loved films that can tell a story without words - and this is very sparse with the spoken word, leaving it all to meaningful looks and beautifully staged scenes, the colours vivid as we move from crumbling mansion, to the beach, to the countryside round about. It's a limited world they inhabit. But the final sensory overload is aural - we don't get a lot of music in the film, but when it comes, it's spectacular. The painter, playing a snatch of Summer from the Four Seasons on the harpsichord for her subject, as a piece she's heard and loves: a group of village women, in a dramatic vocal harmony that's eerie in its intensity: and finally, a proper, orchestral performance of Summer from the Four Seasons, loud and dramatic enough to blow you away.

Powerful and passionate, quite unlike most films you're likely to see. Highly recommended. Easy to see why it was an award-winner at Cannes! (including, ironically, for screenplay). What a swansong for my film-going experience! Because I'm afraid that's it, indefinitely - I cannot find a cinema open in London from today. However, I did find one theatre - so I'm off to the Old Red Lion this evening, for a triple bill - Nuclear War / Buried / Graceland.

Now, I tried and tried to find another theatre open tomorrow - to no avail. So I checked the Ryanair website - there have been rumours of flight cancellations. And when I logged in - first thing I saw was that my flights back to Ireland in a week's time have been cancelled: no bookings being taken after Tuesday. With a confirmed booking, they should have informed me, but I daresay they're swamped. So I said, well, this wasn't entirely unexpected - and with nothing happening in London, and WFH anyway, I might as well be in Ireland. My mother at least has a telly! Now, the app is down - but I managed to book a flight for tomorrow on the website. Checked in as well - and nuts, with the app down, I'll have to print the boarding pass for once. Well, if needs be, the office is still open - although I do have a printer of my own, but have to source paper..

So, that'll be it. Literally everything in my calendar has been cancelled, up to the 7th - which is unlikely to happen either. And most things I'd booked after that. But I can't count on anything right now, and have booked a one-way ticket. So, my next post will be my last. For an indefinite period. As all the theatres say, "it is with a heavy heart.." Take care, stay healthy. See you on the other side.