A GOOD YEAR
UK/US, 2006, 117 minutes, Colour.
Russell Crowe, Marion Cotillard, Abbie Cornish, Albert Finney, Didier Bourdon, Freddie Highmore, Rafe Spall, Archie Panjabi, Daniel Mayes, Valeria Tedeschi Bruni, Tom Hollander, Kenneth Cranham.
Directed by Ridley Scott.
This is a rather light drama with touches of comedy and romance. It is not the kind of film where audiences expect to see Russell Crowe. A strong and imposing screen presence, he is usually in heavyweight dramas like Gladiator, Master and Commander and last year’s Cinderella Man.
However, this time he joins with his Gladiator director, Ridley Scott, and tries to interpret his character, Max, in the Cary Grant vein, some serious moments, a pair of glasses, some slapstick pratfalls in a swimming pool, some repartee. It doesn’t quite come off but he does his best very earnestly. (Scott is not the director who immediately comes to mind to direct light romances – but audiences will be glad to know that he and Crowe, along with Denzel Washington, are already filming American Gangster.)
However, the scene is set before the adult Max appears when we see his character as a young boy staying with his Uncle Henry in Provence during the summer holidays. Henry is a genial, rakish man who loves his vineyards and is proud of his wine – and proud of his nephew who seems to be ready to follow in his footsteps.
Cut to the present and the London stock exchange and Max has become a ruthless high flyer, tightly controlling his staff to buy and sell for almost obscene profit at just the right moment. We wonder what has happened to the nice boy of those summer holidays (although we remember that he did cheat at chess and his uncle gave him a parable about telling the truth).
Then comes the news that Henry has died and he must go to France to sort out the will. We are taken aback as we wonder if that is all we will see of the uncle (played with gusto by Albert Finney) and young Max (played with expertise by Freddie Highmore who proved his talent in Finding Neverland and being Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Happily, there are quite a lot of flashbacks.
Meanwhile, back in the present, Max has everything under control and plans to sell off the rundown property with the aid of his lawyer friend (Tom Hollander). While on his mobile phone and driving, he does not realise that he has run a local restaurant owner, Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard) off the road. His friends who have managed the winery for decades are anxious to stay on.
One does not have to have the gift of prophecy to anticipate what happens, although there is definitely one unforeseen occurrence. Henry’s American daughter (a vivacious Abbie Cornish), whom nobody knew of suddenly turns up. However, it is following through the predictable that is enjoyable.
In the early 1990s there was a spate of films with the theme, if we take the Gospel’s phrasing, ‘what does it profit to gain the whole world and lose one’s soul?’. There was The Doctor, with William Hurt. There was The Fisher King with Jeff Bridges. There was Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford. These were star vehicles for actor’s portraying professional men (doctors, radio personalities, lawyers) who experienced a personal crisis and realised that they had become over-achieving rats in the rat race. They had to examine their consciences and their way of life.
And so Max starts to remember, to allow the influence of his uncle and of the Provence countryside to permeate his whole being, so that there is nothing else to do but to renounce his ambition and greed, embrace the land – and embrace Fanny Chenal.
1. An entertainment? In Provence? The world of wine and vineyards? Romance? Business in London?
2. Ridley Scott, his career, his cast?
3. Location photography, the wine, the vineyards, homes? The contrast with London, the world of business? The musical score?
4. Max, as a boy, going on holidays, the vineyards, his relationship with his uncle? 25 years later? Working in bonds, trade, dubious ethics?
5. Max inheriting the vineyard, his planning the sale? Encounter with Fanny, knocking her off her bike? Going back to London, the issue of fraud, his suspension?
6. Taking the photos of the vineyard, falling into the pool, Fanny and her revenge, filling the pool with water? Max missing his flight? His suspension?
7. The vineyard, the vines, the estate, Francis and his role in the vineyard, the inspectors, his offering a bribe, to say that the soil was bad? His motivation?
8. Christy, arriving from the United States, backpacking, claiming to be Henry’s daughter? Testing the wine, the quality? Max interviewing Christy?
9. Max, London, his ethics, information from Gemma, the advice? Targeting Kenny, his being fired?
10. Character of Fanny, her place in the town, the encounters with Max, his wooing, the sexual encounter, her expectations – of his leaving?
11. Max examining Henry’s notes, Christy leaving, Max putting the note in her book, her return?
12. The tennis match with Francis? The crisis, Max’s discovery about Henry and Francis using illegal vines? Pushing forward the sale?
13. London, the members of the company, their interactions, business? Sir Nigel? His offer? Max and his dislike of Sir Nigel? His art, the copy with Fanny or the original? Max and his decision about his future?
14. The sale, his forging the documents, his experience in forging his uncle’s signature, the photos, settling up in London, settling in Provence? Christy and Francis managing the vineyard? Max and his future with Fanny?
