Leigh Paatsch: Family drama flavours Back to Burgundy
A FRENCH movie. About French wine. A marriage made in heaven, no? In the case of Back to Burgundy, make that a no, not quite.
Leigh Paatsch
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Back to Burgundy (M)
Director: Cedric Klapisch (Russian Dolls)
Starring: Pio Marmaï, Ana Girardot, François Civil, Jean-Marc Roulot.
Rating : ***
In the annual pursuit of grapeness
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A French movie. About French wine. A marriage made in heaven, no? In the case of Back to Burgundy, make that a no, not quite.
The plotting can get decidedly plodding at times here as we get to know three thirty-something siblings who jointly hold the fate of their family’s winemaking business in their hands.
Matters have come to a head after their father’s health has taken an irreversible turn for the worse.
Jean (Pio Marmai), the eldest of the trio, has made a mercy dash back from a new life in Australia.
He decides to stick around for a while when he learns from sister Juliette (Ana Girardot) and brother Jeremie (Francois Civil) that the next harvest could be the last to carry the family name.
The makers of this moderately engrossing drama have certainly spared no effort in the authenticity department.
Just as the story is spread across the four seasons of a winemaking year on a beautiful Burgundy estate, so too was the shooting of the film itself.
The passing of time. The changing of the weather. The dryness in the air. The dampness under foot. The health of the vines. The hue of the grapes.
All of these factors (and many others) which influence the definitive taste of a vintage have been modestly, yet rather miraculously threaded through the narrative of Back to Burgundy.
Sure, wine tragics won’t totally buy the story being told here. However, they will wish there was some way they could walk through the screen and live amidst what they are seeing.
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