The representation of desire, power and the gaze through cinematographic language in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, by Céline Sciamma

This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), exploring the relationship between cinema, gender, and power through different critical and theoretical perspectives. The technical and formal aspects that comprise the cinematic language of Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire are examined to reveal how they highlight Michel Foucault’s concept of the “painter’s gaze”, while also challenging Laura Mulvey’s notion of the “female gaze”. The objective of this seminar session is to establish a coherent connection between the thematic content of the film and the theories put forth by influential scholars such as Mulvey, Foucault, Judith Butler, bell hooks, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Moreover, this presentation seeks to investigate how the technical and plastic elements of the mise-en-scène can augment the primary message of the plot, convey a sense of desire, and portray the power dynamics between the main characters.

Bio

Miguel Rico is a PhD student in Communication Sciences, specializing in cinema and television at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He has a Masters in Audiovisual and Multimedia from the Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, where he wrote the thesis Rewriting Bergman: The Transnational Adaptation of a Cinematic Screenplay, under the guidance of Professor Pedro Lopes. He has worked as a video editor in entertainment, podcasts, advertising and institutional videos and has interned as a screenwriter at SP Televisão. He is currently a critic and a collaborator at Comunidade de Cultura e Arte, where he writes regularly about cinema and television and researches film adaptations as part of his PhD in Communication Sciences.

This session will be in Portuguese.