Best film I've seen (#5) of the Sydney film festival (so far, 7 to go). It's French, it's charming, but it is never a cliché. That's difficult because the world in general has so many preconceptions about France. It's about wine, and Thank You, I learnt a lot. The cinema was full, lots of French people and lots of French speakers, including those, comme moi, who vaguely imagine we speak French. The French wine board missed an opportunity, they could have had a testing in the foyer, and it would have been a sucès folle.
It's a film about family, and how you cannot really know them, no matter how you think you do. It's also about tax and travel, and for all the French people out there, please note: There are NO inheritance taxes in Australia. And it is easy to work for yourself. No permission or paperwork required, just sweat.
That is probably why Jean is growing wine in Australia. He is torn between his life here and his life in Burgundy, and a satisfactory answer is hard to find. It is a chord which every Australian understands (and why this film should get wide release here, please) we all go back to Burgundy or Thessiloniki or Liverpool to find what we left, and for many of us, it turns out to be just not what we remembered for good or bad. The way this is shown, so lightly and, very delicately, is one of several reasons this film is special. The ending is particularly good.
It's a film about family, and how you cannot really know them, no matter how you think you do. It's also about tax and travel, and for all the French people out there, please note: There are NO inheritance taxes in Australia. And it is easy to work for yourself. No permission or paperwork required, just sweat.
That is probably why Jean is growing wine in Australia. He is torn between his life here and his life in Burgundy, and a satisfactory answer is hard to find. It is a chord which every Australian understands (and why this film should get wide release here, please) we all go back to Burgundy or Thessiloniki or Liverpool to find what we left, and for many of us, it turns out to be just not what we remembered for good or bad. The way this is shown, so lightly and, very delicately, is one of several reasons this film is special. The ending is particularly good.