Based on "The Portrait of a Lady", by Henry James.
It contains several samples of the movie with the same title, by Jane Campion.

As soon as I started to read "The portrait of a Lady", by Henry James, an idea for a piece started to build on me, slowly and rationally. The highly psychological drama described in the novel was something I considered worthy to be put into images; and all the unspoken aspects of the book were something I attempted to translate into sounds. But, how can anyone express so many words, so many feelings in a few set of images? Well... My answer is that you can't, or at least I don´t feel that I was able to do so. A person's mind is very unclear, specially when it is facing its own destiny, the morals of the wretched, and the uneasiness that comes with pride. Principles and destiny are truly important issues, and for me this is the portrait of all wrong decisions we make throughout our lives, and how we cope with them; how we endure quietly, but painfully with the consequences and despair.
Principles and destiny were, in my humble opinion, the ideas that moved Henry James, and poor Isabel Archer - the story's main character - was just the way he found to express them. It is also my belief that interesting characters deserve interesting matters, even if they aren't fully able to deal with them. This small piece I present to you is my impression of things, it is my wrong decision, my uneasiness, and, probably, the portrait of all I left unsaid.

Curator Nuno Rodrigues

Organization Curtas Metragens CRL