The Vintner's Luck

This film absolutely surprised me! I randomly searched for a fantasy film, and when this tile appeared I thought what the heck, I love wine that should be interesting! What I wasn't expecting, however, was a very well written and very well acted, blend of romance and fantasy. Even if you're not a person who enjoys wine (though it helps), this film is sure to keep you intrigued and engaged. Give it a try, preferably while drinking a glass or two or three of your favorite Pinot noir, and enjoy!

Having read the novel by Elizabeth Knox I had high hopes for the film. I bought the DVD and when I got round to the viewing I was impressed by Niki Caro's rendition. The movie was beautifully crafted from start to finish with the exception of the wasted screen time establishing the landscape. Too much screen time was dedicated to the albeit beautiful French/New Zealand landscape. The casting was perfect, each of the protagonists had a part to play romantically to Sobran Jodeau. Celeste (Keisha Castle Hughes) was the physical, the Baroness (Vera Farmiga) being Intelletual and Xas (Gaspard Ulliel) the spiritual. One factor I found disappointing was the relationship between Sobran and Xas in the novel played a significant role in influencing the fruition of Sobran's dreams to create a wine never tasted, yet in the film the relationship seemed downplayed. Which is a shame because it seemed like the film missed something which would have brought justice to the novel. However I definitely think that this movie is a gem which touches on a mythical theme not explored in the film Industry. The introduction of the angel Xas seemed very believable and I believe Niki managed to bring to life Elizabeth Knox's story of a vintner and his angel to life.

It's 19th century France. Sobran Jodeau is a peasant working for a château winemaker. He wants to make more than peasant wine. During one drunken night, he is rescued by angel Xas who offers him special seeds in exchange for meeting him one night every year for the rest of his life. Sobran marries Celeste (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and starts a family. The Chateau's Baroness Aurora de Valday (Vera Farmiga) returns from Paris. It's a fable of love, passion, and wine.

Niki Caro, who wrote and directed 'Whale Rider', has created a melodrama about French vine during the Napoleanic age. It's a bit of a grind. It's long and melodramatic like an old romance novel. It does go off in unexpected directions. The passion for the vines do come through the screen. Jérémie Renier has a shiftiness that is unappealing and distracts from the assumed passion from Sobran. His European accent don't match either Vera or Keisha. Keisha is underused and is no more than a face. Another lead could tie the whole movie together. This movie struggles to find solid ground but I do like the wine making.

This film, which transports us to 19th century France, is so beautiful in so many ways. It seeps in and touches you with the delicacy of a fine wine. The pace of it let's you digest each moment and allows you to linger in a wonderful world of passion, desire, spiritedness as well as death and anguish. Which is why I loved the film so much...the duality of it. It's not like your typical Hollywood movie in which one thing or another is forced onto you. The film takes you on a journey where you can think about, and more importantly feel the duality of life...the duality of your own life and spirit. It awakens an understanding within yourself through the characters and the script. The acting is superb...Vera Farmiga is at her best and Keisha Castle-Hughes has become a fierce woman with such raw vibrancy I was wishing for more of her. The script takes the kind of turns and risks you can only hope for when watching a film. Filled with such feeling and thought it's a tale that lingers on long after leaving the theater....isn't that what art is all about.

Disclaimer: I have not read the Elizabeth Knox book Nikki Caro's film The Vintner's Luck is based on so can not make a comparison - which given that films are not books, might be a good thing. Films are creations with their own forces. Nikki Caro did not engage in the arduous process of making a film simply to channel Knox or to realize Knox on screen. She is here to create her own vision. This is what all artists do.

It is rather ironic that at the same time Vintner's Luck is undergoing a national reaming in New Zealand we are also attacking Witi Ihimaera's so-called plagiarism. And yet when Nikki Caro dares to bring her own vision to the screen she is lambasted for not plagiarizing enough.

Her film is layered and complex as any story of a relationship between an angel and a man would be, even more so as the film is grappling with bigger issues of morality and mortality.

If Nikki is guilty of anything it is her attempt to make the Knox novel comprehensible and accessible to a wide audience. To cynics like me who find the idea of fleshy angels simply silly, the film balances that feathery conundrum perfectly. Especially as it seems that all the criticism revolves around this one thing – the intangible and problematic issue of man and angels. It's a relationship portrayed in art from earliest times. And it's intensely personal; especially for Knox fans - who it seems - will be satisfied by nothing less than full-on feather sex. Is it the thwarting of their inner voyeurs that has unleashed this storm? In fact by not staying too close to the Knox book, by in some ways separating the angel and the man and allowing the man to form an (albeit conflicted) bond with an earth bound woman the angelic relationship becomes more believable, more symbolic of our human struggle with desire. And that's something I can understand: after all, are we not all in lifelong relationships with our angels as we grapple with the sensual, the sacred and the profane in search of our perfect vintage? Don't be put of by the jaundiced reviews in New Zealand: Vintner's Luck, the movie, is strong wine for developed palettes. This is one vintage you will not want to miss, whether or not you believe in angels. Sumner Burstyn, NZ, sumnerburstyn@gmail.com