9 Most Powerful LGBT+ Movie Scenes Ever
1. A Portrait Of A Lady On Fire - The Crescendo
2019’s A Portrait Of A Lady On Fire started making waves the moment that the first round of critics got their eyes on it, and from the very beginning to the bittersweet end you can see why.
Depicting the developing relationship between a portrait artist and her subject - a woman destined to be married off for the family’s social betterment against her will - it slowly unfurls their love and finishes with a searing crescendo.
This crescendo isn’t just figurative in terms of the film’s pacing, though, as the film’s final scene takes place at a concert. Earlier in the film the women discussed the experience of live music, and painter Marianne played lover Héloïse a small portion of Vivaldi’s ‘Summer’ on the harpsichord.
When the finale arrives and we see a long, unbroken shot of Héloïse experiencing just about all five stages of grief whilst being engulfed by the music, the energy is tangible. The unflinching shot, stunning performance and appeal to the audience’s own empathies and understandings of lost love make the scene unforgettable.
She mourns the fact that her love is not allowed, all that she loses through this, and remembers with heartbreaking intensity the love she feels for Adrianna.