Talk:Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Official poster
Hello, I'm writing on behalf of mk2films, international sales agent for Portrait of a Lady on Fire. We have noticed that the current poster showing on this article hasn't been approved by the rightsholder so we would like to have it replaced by the official one. Your help would be very much appreciated. Thanks Mk2films (talk) 11:36, 4 September 2019 (UTC) The size of the file you upload should not be so small that readers need to use a magnifying glass to discern what else may exist on the poster besides the title, but also with a height not larger than 390 pixels. Examples of image dimensions and file summary: and   Pyxis Solitary   yak  13:54, 4 September 2019 (UTC)
 * An IMDb page is the worst source for posters. All you need to do is upload the official poster substitution for Portrait of a Lady on Fire.jpg -- scroll down to File history and click on "Upload a new version of this file", and provide the reason for the change (e.g. "This version is the official poster by the production/distribution company.") -- then edit the Summary with details about its source.

Careless editing
The BIFA award (Best International Independent Film) was deleted and the award merged into the Cannes Film Festival row on 01:09, 8 December 2019. How the table appeared on 22:36, 8 December 2019. How it was changed on 02:37, 9 December 2019. How it was left on 04:23, 9 December 2019. Then there are the incorrect award titles, incomplete citations, and altered citations. "Good faith" editing ends when there is a pattern of careless, haphazard edits. I may come off as a royal bitch, but if there's one thing I don't do is rely on other editors to clean-up after me when I edit an article. Pyxis Solitary  (yak). L not Q. 05:58, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Top-ten list
Unless it's a case-by-case basis and consensus to include a particular list is agreed to by editors of this article, a critics "Top-ten lists" section cannot be included. See: WP:FILMCRITICLIST. (This is not the first and will not be the last film article about a film that has earned critical acclaim where such a list is deleted.)

08:42, 5 January 2020 edit by QueerFilmNerd

Portrait of a Lady on Fire appeared on many critics' year-end top-ten lists, including:


 * 1st – Allison Shoemaker, RogerEbert.com 
 * 1st – Anita Katz, San Francisco Examiner
 * 1st – Carlos Aguilar, RogerEbert.com ''
 * 1st – Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
 * 1st – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
 * 1st – David Sims, The Atlantic
 * 1st – Jake Coyle, Associated Press
 * 1st – Matt Fagerholm, ''RogerEbert.com
 * 2nd – Matthew Monagle, The Austin Chronicle
 * 2nd – Sara Stewart, New York Post
 * 2nd – Sarah Ward, Screen Daily
 * 3rd – Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage
 * 3rd – Josh Kupeki, The Austin Chronicle
 * 3rd – Justine Smith, ''RogerEbert.com
 * 7th – David Morgan, CBS News
 * 7th – Joshua Rothkopf, Timeout New York
 * 7th – Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com  
 * 8th – Beatrice Loayz,The A.V Club 
 * 8th – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter 
 * 8th – Far Out Magazine
 * 8th – Mark Dujslk, RogerEbert.com  
 * 8th – Odie Henderson, RogerEbert.com  
 * 8th – Robert Horton, Everett Daily Harold
 * 8th – Wes Greene, Slant
 * 9th – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com  
 * 9th – Haleigh Foutch, Collider
 * 9th – John Beifuss, Memphis Commercial Appeal
 * 9th – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
 * 9th – Paste
 * 10th – David Crow, Den of Geek (USA)
 * 10th – Eric Kohn, Indiewire

Pyxis Solitary  (yak). L not Q. 11:00, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

Accolades list
Hey there! asked for my help to meditate on WP:Discord. Do you think that it might be a good time to split the accolades into its own list per WP:FILMCRITICLIST? The award section has gotten rather long imo. &#8211; MJL &thinsp;‐Talk‐☖ 16:36, 5 January 2020 (UTC) What's the measure for splitting off an accolades list into its own list article? Because, imo, I don't think the total accolades as of this time is really that long. However, once it starts to get into this, this, this, this, and this level, sure. Pyxis Solitary  (yak). L not Q. 23:47, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
 * We have not discussed splitting the list before, nor has any editor tried to do so. So I do not see how WP:Discord enters into it.

"Personal interpretation" of the film
It's not "personal interpretation" of the film to point out that "It is not clear whether this is real or imagined" when Marianne turns and sees Heloise on their final parting. On the contrary, to assert that Marianne "sees Heloise" without this additional observation is misleading -- it implies Heloise is physically there, which is far from clear. Sciamma is very careful to set up ambiguity in this final moment, through the repeated "visions" (clearly not real) of Heloise that Marianne sees in corridors, and the inclusion in the plot of the myth of Eurydice. I therefore contend very strongly that "It is not clear whether this is real or imagined" absolutely should stay. To remove it would be not only to hoist your own interpretation onto the film through false assertion ("see") but also to exclude a pivotal moment of the movie from the plot summary. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zedembee (talk • contribs) 18:20, 15 January 2020 (UTC)


 * The film is the primary source. WP:FILMPLOT: "Do not make analytic, synthetic, interpretive, explanatory, or evaluative claims about information found in a primary source." WP:PRIMARY: "Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself...."  Pyxis Solitary   (yak) . L not Q. 11:16, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

Runtime total
This edit changed the running time to 122 mins -- and I think it's incorrect. The French film distributor, Pyramide Films = 1h59 = 119 mins. International distributor MK2Films = 119 mins. Festival de Cannes = 120 mins. If Cannes timed it at 120 mins, then it should be 120 mins, and not what the BBFC states on its website. Pyxis Solitary  (yak). L not Q. 04:48, 21 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Interestingly, this French source has it at 122 minutes.  Lugnuts  Fire Walk with Me 09:05, 21 February 2020 (UTC)


 * AlloCiné is sort of a French version of IMDb, with a dash of Rotten Tomatoes. Just like IMDb, members of the public can create an account ("Mon AlloCiné") and contribute information. So, who knows where the 122 mins comes from. Pyxis Solitary   (yak) . L not Q. 11:53, 21 February 2020 (UTC)

Suggestion for Music section
The 'Music' section of the article should include a mention of the striking acapella folk singing that takes place in the same scene in which Heloise's dress catches fire. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Austiniano (talk • contribs) 15:33, 25 January 2021 (UTC)


 * ——— Well, despite having no experience writing about film on Wikipedia (hence why I'm also reaching out to an experienced films editor like Pyxis Solitary, who took Carol to GA), I took a stab at Austiniano's request. I don't think what I've written is perfect, but arguably it gets us moving in the right direction:


 * The soundtrack consists of an original single, La Jeune Fille en Feu (lit. 'The Girl on Fire'), by composers Para One and Arthur Simonini. The song—performed by Sequenza 9.3, with Catherine Simonpiétri conducting —is scored for female choir a cappella and rhythmic clapping. According to Para One, although he and Simonini researched eighteenth century period music, they nonetheless recommended to Sciamma "a modern sound" inspired by György Ligeti's Requiem. Sciamma provided the lyrics: the (repeated) Latin phrase 'Non possunt fugere' and coda 'Nos resurgemus'—roughly translated as 'We cannot escape' and 'We rise', respectively. In a review of the song for Slate, Matthew Dessum writes, "The parsimonious use of music in the rest of the film makes the [singing of La Jeune Fille en Feu during the] bonfire scene completely overwhelming for characters and audience alike, so intense that it is almost unbearable. The music is beautiful, it is transporting, it is ". Writing in Paste, Ellen Johnson concurred: "It's utterly shocking to hear the strange chant after more than an hour of almost no music at all, but that's what makes it so timely ... [it's] a skin-tingling experience."


 * Hope this helps! It is such a haunting, wonderful song. Silence of Järvenpää (talk) 23:33, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

For examples of how it can structured, take a look at: Amélie by Yann Tiersen, which leads to Amélie (soundtrack); or The Birds (film) by Bernard Herrmann; Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film) by Richard Rodney Bennett; and The Wind and the Lion by Jerry Goldsmith. Pyxis Solitary  (yak). L not Q. 11:50, 1 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't see why the article cannot also include a section titled "Music" or "Soundtrack". WP:FILMMUSIC states: ...a "Soundtrack" section can be used to provide a summary background about the film score.... -- which applies to the music in this film.