Porträt einer jungen Frau in Flammen

An unusual commission takes the Parisian painter Marianne to a lonely Breton island in 1770: she is to secretly produce a painting of the young noblewoman Héloïse, as Héloïse refuses to sit as a model to protest against the marriage arranged by her mother. Marianne observes Héloïse during her walks along the coast and paints her portrait in the evening from memory. Over time, however, a close relationship develops between the two women and they discover their emotional affinity and their mutual physical attraction.

PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN IN FLAMES, the opening film of the Viennale 2019, is not only an enchantingly tender love story, but also a powerful statement about female desire, the female gaze and the situation of women over the centuries.