As soon as the British make a film about the French, things get dark and difficult.
Photo: capelight.de/Movie Thomas Napper
They have to fight to survive, then they rely more on their own strength. They become more of what they should be.« This is how Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, who revolutionized champagne production, speaks about her vines. In the film, which was inspired by Tilar J. Mazzeo’s biography, it quickly becomes clear that she also means herself.
The background story of the biopic is actually as exciting as a complex wine: in 1805, 27-year-old Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot (Haley Bennett) takes over his winery in Champagne after her husband’s death. Despite enormous resistance from the patriarchy, after a few setbacks and despite the ongoing Napoleonic Wars, she managed to build a respected, international champagne empire. Not a bad topic for an entrepreneur biopic and a lot more exciting than a film about a sneaker (“Air”) or a smartphone that you can no longer buy (“Blackberry”).
Ultimately, the clever widow invented some production methods that are still used today, including remuage to clarify champagne, so that friends of liquid gold should be eternally grateful to her.
Unfortunately, the implementation of this early girl boss story by the Brit Thomas Napper, who made his debut in 2019 with the boxer film “Jawbone”, is rather a difficult task.
The casting of the lead role with the American Haley Bennett is surprising, while the rest of the crew consists almost entirely of English people. Imagine if the French made a film about the English tea king Sir Thomas Lipton. You shouldn’t expect French lightness even from erotic scenes in this dark biopic that Bennett produced with her husband Joe Wright. The seductive cleavage of the attractive leading actress is always effectively showcased, but even then you rub your eyes when you look at old paintings of the widow, who probably knew how to convince people more with her assertiveness and persistence. Why for Dionysus’ sake does this admirable woman have to be portrayed by a flawless actress again?
Imagine if the French made a film about the English tea king Sir Thomas Lipton.
The biopic begins with one of many flashbacks that deprive the story of its drama, namely the funeral of Barbe-Nicole’s husband François (Tom Sturridge). In many more flashbacks, interspersed with the success story of the “Grande Dame de Champagne,” we learn about her marriage. Initially deeply in love, the two beautiful lovebirds wander through the winery. François sings for his vines. The two assure each other that the wine should reflect Barbe-Nicole’s elegance and light, but also François’ boldness. Romance among wine growers! The two take turns quoting Voltaire and also father a daughter.
The mentally unstable guy becomes more and more addicted to laudanum, even becomes violent towards his wife and their daughter and ultimately kills himself while intoxicated. The chamber music-like film score by Bryce Dessner tries to create more drama than the script allows. Although the film only lasts a whopping 90 minutes, it feels longer.
After François’ funeral, there was immediate talk about selling the vineyards – a certain Claude Möet showed great interest. Nobody believes that a woman would be able to run such a company, after all, this is the time of the Napoleonic Code, in which men were legal guardians of a family and women had few rights.
Nevertheless, Barbe-Nicole manages to persuade her father-in-law Philippe (Ben Miles) to continue running the winery in the spirit of her husband. She quickly gathers more feminist-minded men around her, especially the accountant Edouard (Anson Boon) and the courageous wine merchant Louis Bohne (Sam Riley), who helps the fascinating widow sell her champagne by circumventing Napoleon’s trade embargo. This means they even manage to tap into the Russian market, which is extremely hard-drinking.
Barbe-Nicole also begins an affair with Louis, who is actually homosexual and apparently also had a liaison with her husband, although this is only tentatively hinted at. We would have liked to know more about this.
But in addition to the little joy of love, the winemaker has to contend with many setbacks: the first delivery spoils, champagne bottles explode, and in the meantime she can no longer pay her workers because she has run out of money. Nevertheless, in 1811 she managed to produce a vintage of the century that is still legendary today and owes its name to a comet that flew over Champagne at that time. But even this inspiring fact is lost in this viscous film. One wishes a French director would take on this thrilling story again.
“The Widow Clicquot”, USA 2023. Director: Thomas Napper. Starring: Haley Bennett, Ben Miles, Leo Suter. 90 min. Start: November 7th.
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