Emma Hanson interviews Ellie Quinlan about her experience of watching Celine Sciamma's 2019 film as a queer woman.
One of the most impactful and beautiful films I have recently seen has been Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Set in 18th Century France, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is tasked with painting an engagement portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). Héloïse has no desire to be married and evades previous painters’ eyes, so Marianne serves as companion whilst secretly painting her portrait.
Whilst this could be one of my favourite films, I am aware that as a heterosexual woman I cannot give a queer woman’s perspective. In order to give a voice to this community, I talked with Ellie Quinlan about her impressions of the film, and of Sciamma’s depiction of a lesbian relationship.
Emma: What was your initial impression of Portrait of a Lady on Fire?
Ellie: I think the first thing that stood out to me in the film was that it was very obviously directed by a queer woman. Sciamma previously dated Adèle Haenel, and it was interesting to see that experience [of falling in love] directed by someone who has felt it before. The relationship on screen was really, really subtle and not oversexualised. Sciamma made such an effort to keep it very honest to a queer women’s experience rather than sensationalise it.
Emma: How does Portrait of a Lady on Fire differ from other queer films you have seen?
Ellie: One of the first gay films I watched which was widely critically acclaimed was Blue is the Warmest Colour. It was directed by a straight man [Abdellatif Kechiche], performed by straight actresses, and it felt uncomfortable. The actresses felt uncomfortable as he overplayed the female sexuality so much - not for story line, but for the enjoyment of the viewer. As a result, it was quickly dismissed by queer women in the community. Blue is the Warmest Colour relied on lesbian tropes; there is the butch lesbian, studying a fine art degree who teaches the younger, inexperienced and straight woman about being gay.
Call Me By Your Name is often compared to Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but Oliver (Armie Hammer) is older, smarter and more experienced. He brings the younger Elio (Timothée Chalamet) out, demonstrating a clear power imbalance between the two. Whilst it is a raw and interesting movie, it was also clearly a queer movie written and acted by straight people. Carol is another queer film with a power dynamic; Carol is an older, more experienced, wealthy and intelligent lesbian than her love interest.
It is easier for directors to portray queer relationships with a power structure such as this. It is easier for audiences to digest, as it is closer to historical heteronormative relationships where one partner is less powerful than the other. If you dilute queer film by making it ‘more straight’, it’s easier for audiences. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is so refreshing as it doesn’t conform to this – there is no intellectual difference or age difference between the two characters, and the wealth difference is not significant to the plot line. By taking the power imbalances out of the relationship, Sciamma makes more space to just focus on the two women, and how a normal lesbian relationship unfolds in real.
Emma: How do you think Sciamma achieves this accurate depiction of a lesbian relationship?
Ellie: There isn’t a lot of dialogue, and only four main characters in the film. As a result, the audience is forced to pay so much attention to the eye contact and the body language [between Marianne and Héloïse], which is what falling in love in real life is like. Body language is more telling than dialogue.
When there is some sort of homophobic constraint on your life, then seeing Marianne and Héloïse desperate for each other, but unable to be together, is really touching. Setting Portrait of a Lady on Fire in the 18th century means that it is completely unfeasible for them to end up together. They didn’t end up together but at the same time they did, as they were still clearly were besotted by each other, demonstrated by the shared song and the portrait of Héloïse, showing the book open on the page with Marianne’s drawing.
This film reminds me of falling in love with my current girlfriend. It’s such a subtle experience. That’s the difference between falling in love as a queer person. As there are societal boundaries, you have to create your own narrative, whereas straight people already have that narrative written for them. We still face a lot of societal obstacles and homophobia, even in the Western world, but you go through these experiences together.
by Emma Hanson