Last Sunday mrs maytrees and I decided that a trip to the HMV Curzon cinema to see Portrait of a Lady on Fire, would be worthwhile not least because cinemas in the UK were still open, though for how long was then unclear.
The bar at Wimbledon HMV/Curzon was also still open so we enjoyed coffee and pastries before the show.
The film which was quite well attended, was absorbing, despite being in French with English subtitles. The plot concerned a young French girl, Heloise I think she was called, living on an island in C18, being required by her family to marry an Italian from Milan whom she had never met. To make matters more difficult Heloise had been required by her family to leave a convent in a rush; then to have her portrait painted for the bridegroom to be.
Helosie essentially refused to pose for a previous artist so Marianne was engaged to paint her under the guise of only being in the house as a companion for Heloise.
The two girls began to become friends and eventually Marianne by dint of pretence and borrowing the one non-religious dress in the wardrobe of Heloise, began to paint.
Naturally her ruse was discovered and her first portrait was in any event condemned by Helosie which resulted in Marianne defacing it.
The two girls then began to see eye to eye and decent painting eventually emerged. Helosie did marry the Italian and a few years later Marianne spotted her with a six year old daughter.
Despite the French language and what doubtless would be described by many as a "lack of action", the film absorbed us both throughout its two hour length.
Now that cinemas in the UK have closed because of Covid-19 concerns, it was good to have updated Curzon membership as that group's films may all be watched on line with a dozen being free of cost to members and the remainder quite reasonably priced.
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