On my birthday, I accidentally opened this movie, and after watching it, I knew it was my life movie. After watching the movie, I still can't forget it, and I still think of some parts of the movie from time to time. After procrastinating for a long time, I finally wrote some movie notes.
use of music
The entire film is mostly ambient sound, and the lines are extremely concise. The director Sciamma's use of the soundtrack is even more restrained. There are three places in the whole film. One is Marianne playing Vivaldi for Eloise. "Summer" in "Four Seasons", one is Acapella at the bonfire party, and the other is "Summer" played again at the Milan concert after many years of separation at the end. Sciamma's use of music is precise, and every time it appears, it drives the storyline.
At the bonfire party, accompanied by the melodious Acapella, the two stared affectionately across the fire, confirming their love for each other, and their desires were burning like that flame.
The director used the song "Summer" to create intertextuality between music and film text. Marianne played "Summer" for Eloise, the two sat on the piano chair together, their eyes met each other, and the air was ambiguous. The energetic music reflects the throbbing in Eloise's heart. After Marianne forgot how to play, the music lost its rhythm, reflecting Marianne's nervousness and panic at the time. At this moment, she may also be interested in Eloise. There was a secret feeling, but he still didn't know what that vague feeling was.
At the end of the film, Eloise, who had been separated from Marianne for many years, heard "Summer" played for her by Marianne at a concert in Milan. She was immersed in the music by herself, her memories flooded into her heart, and she began to sob. , in the performance of the music pushed the mood of the whole movie to the highest point. A long shot from Marianne's perspective, which brings the audience into it together. Like Marianne, we are waiting for her turn back and looking forward to meeting again. Maybe she was so fascinated that she didn't notice Marianne who was watching her in the crowd; maybe she saw her, but she didn't look back, because this time Eloise didn't make the poet's choice, but The choice of a lover, she did not want the tragedy of Orpheus in the fairy tale to repeat itself.
sea and island
The sea symbolizes freedom and a wider world, but it is also the confinement of a patriarchal society. This small island is limited by the sea, but it is a utopia for women, where class is gradually diluted and dissolved: two people who love each other can fall in love freely, maids can choose to have an abortion, and three people with different identities can be equal. Sit together and read poetry and play cards.
fairy tales and flowers
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is undoubtedly a metaphor throughout the film. When the three were talking about why Orpheus turned back, Marianne said that he made the poet's choice. This answer was poignant and in line with an artist's understanding, but she did not escape the male gaze after all. In her answer Orpheus is still the subject, and he makes choices in place of Eurydice. Eloise thoughtfully seemed to disagree with Marianne's opinion and continued reading. After a moment of silence, she replied that perhaps Eurydice had turned Orpheus back. At this time, the subject and object disappeared, and the two were on an equal footing. Eurydice made his own choice, and Orpheus could also make his own choice, turning back or not. When parting, Eloise's sentence "Go back." is the poet's choice. The bouquet of flowers in the movie has witnessed this beautiful love as time goes by, it is fleeting from blooming to withering, and the maid keeps its beauty forever with embroidery, just like the poet's choice, The two chose the memories of their lovers, and this most beautiful memory is enough to comfort the rest of their lives.
female perspective
Simone de Beauvoir wrote in The Second Sex: A woman's homosexuality is an attempt to reconcile her autonomy with her body. An active, independent gay woman is more infuriating to men than a non-aggressive lesbian, because only the former threatens male privilege.
Sciamma's work is as active, independent, and threatening as the former. The director once said in an interview that the film wants to show more than just the love story of two women. If the film is peeled off layer by layer, you will find that what it discusses is a very broad issue and a dangerous assumption. . The director tries to use this film to recover the missing history of female artists, and to fill the blank of this history by creating fictitious images. It breaks out of the shackles of tradition and speaks for all women. This is a powerful way to despise feminists. fight back. The transformation of subject and object between the painting and the subject in the film, the portrait of the maid having an abortion, the wild beauty of the armpit hair, and the real insertion of the fingers are all rebellions against the male gaze.
The reality of the film
At the age of seventeen, Adela met her love of twelve years, the lifelong Bole. The two made each other in the process of falling in love. She once said in an interview that her selection was influenced by Sciamma. Now Adela has become a leader of the feminist movement: the protest at the 45th Caesars Awards ceremony, the affirmative activists marching on the streets of France holding up her photo and name...
The day I just turned 20, I came across this movie, like seventeen-year-old Adela, and a part of me has been changed by this movie ever since. I think the value of this movie no longer needs to be measured by any awards. It will exude more and more dazzling light as time goes on.
View more about Portrait of a Lady on Fire reviews