Portrait of a Lady on Fire review: Simmering, sensual, gorgeously cinematic

Celtic are in talks with star striker Odsonne Edouard over a lucrative contract extension.

At 34, Bridget doesn’t know what she wants, but she knows she doesn’t want a baby — not now, at least — and so she doesn’t hesitate to make the decision that might’ve served as the focal point of a different kind of film. In “Saint Frances,” getting an abortion is just one of the many things that happens to Bridget, and the casualness with which it’s presented will outrage some.

In the moody French policier Night Shift (Police), three officers are tasked with escorting an illegal immigrant to Charles de Gaulle airport, where he will be forced onto a plane and sent back to his homeland. According to statistics, this is something that happens all too frequently in France, where nearly 24,000 people were deported last year alone.

French filmmaker Celine Sciamma has said “it’s so powerful to feel understood”, after the international acclaim for her film Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.

The National joins the star-studded Songs for Australia charity album with their stirring cover of "Never Tear Us Apart" by Australian rock band INXS, which was officially released Thursday (Feb. 27). Songs for Australia will arrive on digital and physical formats March 12 via BMG.

With stellar albums from Charli XCX, Caroline Polachek, Selena Gomez and Grimes over the past few months, it’s been a hot stretch for the genre inaccurately but conveniently labelled “alt-pop” — and joining the group is this surprise release from France’s Christine and the Queens, who recently collaborated with two of the above artists.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski is skipping the awards ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars – where his latest movie leads this year’s nominations – because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him.

PARIS -- Filmmaker Roman Polanski is skipping the awards ceremony for France's equivalent of the Oscars - where his latest movie leads this year's nominations - because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him.

RENAULT’S Laurens van den Acker is the designer with the golden touch when it comes to incredibly chic French cars.

The latest work from scrappy French iconoclasts Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern (I Feel Good,Near Death Experience) is at once a dramedy that dips into yellow-vest sentiment in suburban France; a farce about the digital world that surrounds us and seems to command us more than actually help us; and an all-round, utterly depressing movie about the world we live in today.

Parasite’s success has given sub-titled foreign language movies a much needed shot in the arm. Before that afterglow subsides, there’s an equally stunning offering from France, one which, in the wake of all the attention given to the Oscar winner, runs the risk of slipping under the radar.

Parasite’s success has given sub-titled foreign language movies a much needed shot in the arm. Before that afterglow subsides, there’s an equally stunning offering from France, one which, in the wake of all the attention given to the Oscar winner, runs the risk of slipping under the radar.

To some extent, withThe Salt of Tears (Le Sel des larmes)French post-New Wave director Philippe Garrel continues in the familiar vein of his last three films, the intimate dramasJealousy, In the Shadow of Women andLover for a Day. It's shot in black-and-white, it looks at relationship issues surrounding fathers and lovers and much of the same below-the-line talent has collaborated on this effort as well, from production designer Manu de Chauvigny to composer Jean-Louis Aubert.

To some extent, withThe Salt of Tears (Le Sel des larmes)French post-New Wave director Philippe Garrel continues in the familiar vein of his last three films, the intimate dramasJealousy, In the Shadow of Women andLover for a Day. It's shot in black-and-white, it looks at relationship issues surrounding fathers and lovers and much of the same below-the-line talent has collaborated on this effort as well, from production designer Manu de Chauvigny to composer Jean-Louis Aubert.

French filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz has made three fiction films,Come Undone, Wild SideandGoing South(the latter with current Bond girl Lea Seydoux). But the majority of his output has been in the documentary genre, often exploring marginalized and queer experiences in France, though last year's Adolescentswas a welcome broadening of his horizons as it depicted the life of two teenagers from France over several years (think a non-fictionBoyhoodwith girls).

There’s drama on the way to Carrigstown this week as Phoebe finds herself caught between Mairead and Will when she chooses to support him ahead of his trial.