A movie that cares so much about the changing seasons, I think it's mostly about farming. Wine Country (2017), directed by French director Cedric Krapis, may be the most worthwhile film about wine. It shows the whole process of vineyard care, picking and brewing without hesitation. What impressed me the most about this film is the different scenery of the vineyards throughout the year, the natural sequence that has been managed by hard-working hands. From this, we can see the director's devotion and meticulousness.
Cedric has directed films such as "Hotel in Spain" and "Youth Crisis", and after directing "Chinese Puzzle Game" four years ago, he made a TV series. Returning to the big screen again comes from his childhood fate with wine. When he was young, his father who was good at wine often let him participate in tastings, so he fell in love with wine. He has also always wanted to make a film about wine. But this is not an easy task. If it is not photographed well, it will be a mere formality and tasteless like plain water. Water is water, wine is wine, not to mention wine.
As he said, "Wine is really all-encompassing, it can represent both tradition and modernity. But as far as I am concerned, wine is inextricably linked to family, it is like a heritage, passed down from ancestors, It will be passed on to the next generation.” The valuable thing about the film is that it adapts to the changes of the four seasons. In the form of a documentary, it focuses on the process of grape picking and brewing in Meursault and Pommer villages, but all this is closely related to personnel. Together, as their picking and carnival are one.
Burgundy, a famous French wine producing region. In the film, Jean, who had been away from his hometown for ten years because of a conflict with his father, met his current wife Alicia in Brazil and had a 5-year-old son, Ben, who lived thousands of miles away in Australia. Because his father left his hometown, this time he returned home because his father was critically ill, and reunited with his younger sister Juliet and younger brother Jeremy. But those fetters in the past will sink into the dregs, hindering their affection and communication. The film flashes from time to time the happy childhood scene of the three brothers and sisters, corresponding to the present when they are strangers.
Since it is condensed in the emotional collision of the three brothers and sisters, quarrels and confrontations are inevitable, but what is more precious than family love in this world. In this land full of vineyards, there is their common devotion and love. Of course, overcoming the estrangement and misunderstanding between each other and regaining the long-lost family love is not easy. After the death of their father, the three had disagreements over the distribution of property. Jean just wants to sell the share that belongs to him and return to his distant wife and children. His wife and young son are also looking forward to his return.
But in the process of picking, sorting, brewing and tasting, I slowly regained the intoxicating scene of my childhood. Unconsciously, he stayed and felt the pleasure brought by this vast vineyard with his own soul. Acceptance makes people happy. After resisting the temptation to buy and sell, even if they can sell 6 million euros, they finally decided to keep the family business. This is not just a vineyard, but lush hope and heavy fruit. That is the mellow and fragrant taste of wine country.
Good wines generally have to go through the aging process of ten or twenty years. Emotional cohesion is not the case. The process of wine brewing is actually a process of emotional fusion. Time will not let it rot, but it will be fermented and precipitated, which is refreshing. Who can really appreciate the wonderful process of slowly producing delicious taste from start to finish. When Jean's wife brought her son to him, the wife also tasted the unique delicacy of the wine here, understood Jean's love for her hometown, and reconciled with Jean. Although she returns to Australia again, that love will last forever.
None of the vineyards exist on their own, they are all connected, lush, and in line with the moisturizing of the weather. Everyone has their own troubles. Juliet, who is still single, has a wonderful intersection with the cheerful picking guy. The younger brother Jeremy also became a family and had a young son. But the strength of his father-in-law Anselm made him quite uncomfortable. The father-in-law wanted to buy Jeremy's vineyard and be in charge of brewing it, but Jeremy refused, and it was rare that his wife also supported him.
The three brothers and sisters finally agreed that the vineyard and the final brewing of the grapes needed to be in their own hands. What is rare is that the knot between Jean and his deceased father was also solved because of a letter left by his father before his death. Dad said I understand you want to see the world, but I love you and I hope you can come back and run this vineyard. The emotional bond is more solid here. When you return to your loved ones with a scarred body and mind, you can always find the love of life and the reason to continue living.
Of course, healing movies do not stop at healing, they must have farther implications. The poetry of the film is mixed with the four seasons of the vines, and it is filled with a kind of vitality.
But we don't know, Jean, whether to stay or leave to return to his wife and children. Just by letting what was said last, even if I'm not around, you'll be fine together, including my share. This builds a bridge between relatives. No matter what, this vineyard will always belong to them, just like waiting for a distant and mellow family.
2017, 11, 13
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