8.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
On an isolated island in Bretagne at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Valeria GolinoDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 81% |
Romance | 22% |
History | 3% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Here's a little quiz for those of you who consider yourselves art buffs: name an 18th century painter. Art historians or some folks with at least a bit of an inkling of the history of painting might be able to immediately name icons like John James Audubon, Francisco Goya or William Blake, while some others of us (ahem) might need a search engine or two to come up with some reasonable answers. Now, here's a real challenge: name a female painter from that same general era. I'm kind of thrilled to state that my own search engine quest came up with a woman named Angelica Kauffmann, who, despite spelling her surname incorrectly (that's a joke, folks), evidently was quite celebrated (for a woman painter, anyway) in her time. Portrait of a Lady on Fire does in fact deal with a late 18th century female portrait painter named Marianne (Noémie Merlant), who is teaching a class of young female painters as the film opens. One of Marianne's students has brought out a painting from storage which turns out to be a piece by Marianne, which causes Marianne some discomfort. The striking piece (seen in screenshot 5) is entitled "Portrait of a Lady on Fire", and most of the rest of the film is an extended flashback providing context for the arresting imagery.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. In lieu of an insert booklet, Criterion has provided an accordion style fold out insert that contains the following information on the transfer:
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Black bars at the top an dbottom of the screen are normal for this format. This new digital master was created in 4K resolution. This film was completed in a fully digital workflow and features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the original digital audio files using Avid's Pro Tools.Captured with RED cameras at source resolutions of up to 7K (according to the IMDb), this is an often stunning looking presentation that makes great use of some awesome scenery in and around Saint-Pierre Quiberon, Morbihan, France (again according to the IMDb). Some of the cliffside and seaside material is beautifully detailed and offers an abundantly suffused palette with excellent depth of field. Interior material can be considerably dimmer, but often has a gorgeously burnished appearance. Fine detail on things like the crosshatched fabrics that several of the female characters wear is typically precise looking. There's a somewhat cool, bluish undertone to a lot of the proceedings, coupled with an emphasis on some more buttery yellow tones in some candlelit inside sequences, but detail levels rarely falter.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original French. Scenes like Marianne's arrival at the estate courtesy of a rowboat offer great placement of sometimes rather boisterous ambient environmental sounds, and even some of the quieter moments in the mansion offer good discrete channelization of sounds like servants walking through echo laden hallways. Wind and water noises are quite prevalent and pan through the soundstage appealingly. The only slight qualm I had was with regard to the really hot mix of Vivaldi's Four Seasons which overpowers the track on occasion. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
As is mentioned in the interview with Céline Sciamma included as a supplement on this disc, this is Sciamma's first historical film, after several contemporary outings that traced adolescents in transition. Sciamma is on record as stating she wanted to bring a contemporary flair to this film as well, and it is certainly forward thinking in how its offers its depictions of women struggling to unfetter themselves from the oppressive norms of the era. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is subtly political in a way, but it's also surprisingly personal. Technical merits are first rate, and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.
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