Didn't know about a book, had no expectations. Surprised by supernatural element involving an angel. Being impatient, the slow moving pace left me wanting, but I stuck through because I liked the strength of the actors, especially the lead. Glad I did by the end. Was ambivalent about the many allegories about wine making and life spoken by the angel, but eventually these ideas did became more than words. Betrayal, reconciliation, the many shades of love and loss. Eventually you understand.
Didn't like the dark color palette in the beginning, but was impressed by the authenticity of the dirt and grunge of the peasant laborers. Much like the Game of Thrones franchise in that way. And when the lead becomes richer by his Wine taking risks, the velvet brocade and ruby wine bedazzles the scene like darkly gorgeous vintage. Very pleasing.
The film is odd because it seems to have a Christian spiritual feel, yet it is decidedly gray area rather than black and white. It is even hedonistic, existentialist and atheistic, while also speaking about heaven and hell in a manner reminiscent of how Frankenstein's monster spoke with his creator in Mary Shelley's violent and philosophical book. Where "Frankenstein" is violent though "A Heavenly Vintage" is intensely erotic in a way that is sometimes like violence except sublimated into passion. The slow burn nature of "A Heavenly Vintage" coupled with its underlying eroticism (and sometimes homoeroticism) is mysteriously affecting, even while being an oddly uplifting tale based in an extraordinary humanism.
