“Portrait of a Lady On Fire” (Hulu)

I missed seeing this on the large screen last year. And that is a shame. This nearly flawless French  film set in France in the late 18th century, tells the story of a forbidden affair between two women, one an aristocrat and the other, a painter commissioned to paint her wedding portrait. It’s got everything: gorgeous cinematography, great costumes, compelling story, a chance to see how much French you remember from high school and much more. The erotic scenes are artful and important to the story–unlike a lot of the de rigueur sex scenes in just about any movie these days. (a discussion in another post of why I end up fast forwarding most of these so that I can get on with the story). Hulu doesn’t have a lot of films, but some are pretty good. And this one is wonderful!