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Marianne: I didn't know you were an art critic.
Héloïse: I didn't know you were a painter.
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Héloïse: I've dreamt of that for years.
Marianne: Dying?
Héloïse: Running.
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Héloïse: When you're observing me, who do you think I'm observing?
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Marianne: Your mother will let you go out alone tomorrow. You'll be free.
Héloïse: Being free is being alone?
Marianne: You don't think so?
Héloïse: I'll tell you tomorrow.
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Héloïse: In solitude, I felt the liberty you spoke of. But I also felt your absence.
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Marianne: You're saying nothing?
Héloïse: Is that me?
Marianne: Yes.
Héloïse: Is that how you see me?
Marianne: It's not only me.
Héloïse: What do you mean, not only you?
Marianne: There are rules, conventions, ideas.
Héloïse: You mean there's no life? No presence?
Marianne: Your presence is made up of fleeting moments that may lack truth.
Héloïse: Not everything is fleeting. Some feelings are deep. The fact it isn't close to me, that I can understand. But I find it sad it isn't close to you.
Marianne: How do you know it isn't close to me? I didn't know you were an art critic.
Héloïse: I didn't know you were a painter.
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Marianne: I can't make you smile. I feel I do it and then it vanishes.
Héloïse: Anger always comes to the fore.
Marianne: Definitely with you. I didn't mean to hurt you.
Héloïse: You haven't hurt me.
Marianne: I have, I can tell. When you're moved, you do this with your hand.
Héloïse: Really?
Marianne: Yes. And when you're embarrassed, you bite your lips. And when you're annoyed, you don't blink.
Héloïse: You know it all.
Marianne: Forgive me, I'd hate to be in your place.
Héloïse: We're in the same place. Exactly the same place. Come here. Come. Step closer. Look. If you look at me, who do I look at? When you don't know what to say, you touch your forehead. When you lose control, you raise your eyebrows. And when you're troubled, you breathe through your mouth.
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Marianne: I thought you had been scared off.
Héloïse: You were right. I am scared. Do all lovers feel they're inventing something? I know the gestures. I imagined it all, waiting for you.
Marianne: You dreamt of me?
Héloïse: No. I thought of you.
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Héloïse: This time, I like it.
Marianne: Perhaps because I know you better.
Héloïse: Perhaps I've changed.
Marianne: Perhaps.
Héloïse: You didn't destroy the last one for me. You did it for you.
Marianne: I'd like to destroy this one too.
Héloïse: Why?
Marianne: Through it, I give you to another.
Héloïse: It's terrible. Now you possess me a little, you bear me a grudge.
Marianne: I don't.
Héloïse: You do. You know you do. You're not on my side now. You blame me for what comes next. My marriage. You don't support me.
Marianne: You're right.
Héloïse: Go on. Say what burdens your heart. I believed you braver.
Marianne: I believed you braver too.
Héloïse: That's it then. You find me docile. Worse... You imagine I'm collusive. You imagine my pleasure.
Marianne: It's a way of avoiding hope.
Héloïse: Imagine me happy or unhappy if that reassures you. But do not imagine me guilty. You'd prefer me to resist.
Marianne: Yes.
Héloïse: Are you asking me to? Answer me.
Marianne: No.
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Héloïse: I feel something new.
Marianne: What?
Héloïse: Regret.
Marianne: Don't regret. Remember. I'll remember when you fell asleep in the kitchen.
Héloïse: I'll remember your dark look when I beat you at cards.
Marianne: I'll remember the first time you laughed.
Héloïse: You took your time being funny.
Marianne: That's true. I wasted time.
Héloïse: I wasted time too. I'll remember the first time I wanted to kiss you.
Marianne: When was that?
Héloïse: You didn't notice?
Marianne: At the feast around the bonfire.
Héloïse: I wanted to, yes. But that wasn't the first time.
Marianne: Tell me.
Héloïse: No, you tell me.
Marianne: When you asked if I had known love. I could tell the answer was yes. And that it was now.
Héloïse: I remember.
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Héloïse: It's a life that has advantages. There's a library. You can sing or hear music. And equality is a pleasant feeling.
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La Comtesse: He never saw her face.
Marianne: Why won't she be painted?
La Comtesse: She refuses this marriage.
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Sophie: We were walking by the cliffs. She was behind me and vanished. I saw her broken body below.
Marianne: Did you see her fall?
Sophie: No. I think she jumped.
Marianne: Why do you think that?
Sophie: She didn't cry out.
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La Comtesse: You've made me laugh. It's ages since that happened.
Marianne: I didn't do anything.
La Comtesse: You're here. It takes two to be funny.
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Marianne: You'll hear the rest. Milan is a city of music.
Héloïse: Then I can't wait for Milan.
Marianne: I'm saying there will be good things.
Héloïse: You're saying that, now and then, I'll be consoled.
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Héloïse: What do you tell your models to amuse them?
Marianne: Are you bored?
Héloïse: No. I'm interested in you.
Marianne: Your complexion is remarkable today. You're very elegant. You pose beautifully. You're pretty. That's what I tell them.
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Héloïse: They were nearing the surface, approaching the threshold, when, fearing losing Eurydice and impatient to see her, her loving spouse turned.
Sophie: No, he can't look at her for fear of losing her. That's no reason. He was told not to do that.
Héloïse: He's madly in love. He can't resist.
Marianne: I think Sophie has a point. He could resist. His reasons aren't serious. Perhaps he makes a choice.
Sophie: What choice?
Marianne: He chooses the memory of her. That's why he turns. He doesn't make the lover's choice, but the poet's.
Héloïse: She spoke a last farewell that scarcely reached his ears and fell back into the abyss. Perhaps she was the one who said, Turn around.
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Héloïse: Turn around.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire Quotes
Extended Reading
Director: Céline Sciamma
Language: French,Italian Release date: February 14, 2020