So far we have the opening of a gothic tale and indeed as we ride the waves with her younger self to the island estate of an aristocratic family to paint the portrait of the daughter and heiress we feel that very vibe which persists throughout the next couple of hours on screen. But this is not a horror tale despite the dark and mysterious mansion and recent family tragedy which is variously reported as an accident or suicide.
And that's not all. The daughter, Heloise, has a rich suitor she has never met. Portraitist Marianne is there to seal the deal with the picture that will raise the interest of the man from Milan. All well. No. Heloise has been educated and virtually brought up in a convent, typical enough for girls of her standing, and doesn't want to get married. Of convent life she says she liked the equality. So she won't pose for the portrait. Marianne must do her own posing as a hired companion for Heloise and sneak in any sketching she can to finish the nuptial advert.
Their early encounters are charged as Marianne's gaze goes steadily from that of an artist learning the contours of her subject's face and body to that of a lover as their dialogues deepen into the importance of the pieces of life. I use the term gaze advisedly. A heteronormative painter/subject story would crank into male gaze gear without thinking and within a very few scenes but we're concerned with something more than the skin deep in this ocean deep tale. We are concerned with time. Heloise resists her marriage but knows it or something like it is inevitable. Marianne as a female painter has limited prospects in the greater world back in Paris. Oh, didn't I say? This story is set in pre-revolutionary France, L'ancien Regime, the 18th century. When their attraction heats to love their physical relationship is on a clock. The better Marianne does her job the sooner she will lose Heloise and that will be forever.
This extraordinary film of art and its capacity for memory, of music and its power (in a film without a non-diegetic score) and of great intimacy is above all about the moment. The delay in revealing Heloise's beauty is long and continues in a tease right to the last as the camera follows behind her as she rushes to the beach. The flame at the hem of the skirt once seen is left to burn beneath a dangerous smile. A pair of profiles plays as an avoidance game as Marianne in the foreground studies her subject's profile until Heloise turns in accusation, sending the artist's gaze spinning away.
Finally, we have a face. In the candlelit auditorium she sits and at last hears the music promised her by her lover. It is Vivaldi's "summer storm" allegro from the Four Seasons and at first she is overwhelmed by its power. This soon bring torrents of those moments back and stretches the face into rueful pain. At last, the beauty of them allows her a warm smile. That's in one long take. It's intimacy, it's a moment of many moments, it is music and portraiture and, above all, it is cinema and among the finest of the year.
And that's not all. The daughter, Heloise, has a rich suitor she has never met. Portraitist Marianne is there to seal the deal with the picture that will raise the interest of the man from Milan. All well. No. Heloise has been educated and virtually brought up in a convent, typical enough for girls of her standing, and doesn't want to get married. Of convent life she says she liked the equality. So she won't pose for the portrait. Marianne must do her own posing as a hired companion for Heloise and sneak in any sketching she can to finish the nuptial advert.
Their early encounters are charged as Marianne's gaze goes steadily from that of an artist learning the contours of her subject's face and body to that of a lover as their dialogues deepen into the importance of the pieces of life. I use the term gaze advisedly. A heteronormative painter/subject story would crank into male gaze gear without thinking and within a very few scenes but we're concerned with something more than the skin deep in this ocean deep tale. We are concerned with time. Heloise resists her marriage but knows it or something like it is inevitable. Marianne as a female painter has limited prospects in the greater world back in Paris. Oh, didn't I say? This story is set in pre-revolutionary France, L'ancien Regime, the 18th century. When their attraction heats to love their physical relationship is on a clock. The better Marianne does her job the sooner she will lose Heloise and that will be forever.
This extraordinary film of art and its capacity for memory, of music and its power (in a film without a non-diegetic score) and of great intimacy is above all about the moment. The delay in revealing Heloise's beauty is long and continues in a tease right to the last as the camera follows behind her as she rushes to the beach. The flame at the hem of the skirt once seen is left to burn beneath a dangerous smile. A pair of profiles plays as an avoidance game as Marianne in the foreground studies her subject's profile until Heloise turns in accusation, sending the artist's gaze spinning away.
Finally, we have a face. In the candlelit auditorium she sits and at last hears the music promised her by her lover. It is Vivaldi's "summer storm" allegro from the Four Seasons and at first she is overwhelmed by its power. This soon bring torrents of those moments back and stretches the face into rueful pain. At last, the beauty of them allows her a warm smile. That's in one long take. It's intimacy, it's a moment of many moments, it is music and portraiture and, above all, it is cinema and among the finest of the year.
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