Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019 - Portrait de la jeune fille en feu)

I loved this languid, magnificently photographed story of an 18th century French woman hired to paint a recalcitrant bride. Director/writer Céline Sciamma won Best Screenplay and Queer Palm at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or (Parasite won), among many honors.

Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel give wonderful performances as the painter and her subject, and Sciamma wrote the role of the bride specifically for her ex-lover Haenel. Valeria Golino has a few scenes as the mother of the bride. Golino is best known for being the love interest in Rain Man (1988).

An actual painter, Hélène Delmaire, created the paintings and her hands are shown in close up, even though she is left handed and Merlant is not. A touring exhibition was scheduled but I doubt it happened with the pandemic situation.

The glorious photography by Claire Mathon takes place in the west-northwest region of Brittany in France as well as a striking chateau near Paris, available (sometime, I hope) for tours and described here.

The score is credited to Para One and Arthur Simonini. I found only one track online.

I chose this to watch on my birthday in mid-September. Jack contentedly snoozed next to me on the couch as I reveled in it for 122 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are in accord with me, averaging 98 and 92%, respectively.

I've been using reelgood.com to find where to stream movies, but I'll save you the trouble––it's on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.