Widow Clicquot
I haven’t drunk alcohol for almost fifteen years, and during the last days of my drinking champagne stopped working for me. So when I’m asked to think about this movie, I feel like a more extreme version of Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World” character, who said, “I don’t always drink beer, but” But anyway.
I have fond memories of Veuve Clicquot being a relatively cheap REAL CHAMPAGNE as opposed to its cheap bastard cousin, sparkling wine. Back in 1985 you could get a 375 ml bottle for about fifteen bucks, which was a steal for a fledgling freelance writer from Jersey romancing a real New York City Girl. It goes for about forty bucks now; I could probably swing that much if I had to, but I don’t drink and neither does the New York City Girl anymore and my fabulous wife likes brandy or whisky or even beer sometimes (which she buys herself).
It’s a French story but an international production directed by Brit Thomas Napper and starring American Haley Bennett in the title role. Its inspiration is the life of Barbe Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot (based on her memoirs), whose husband François (Tom Sturridge, seen vividly in flashbacks) dies when Barbe is still only in her twenties. She is determined to keep control of François’ wine making concern. This being the 18th century moving into the 19th century we get a lot of “well that’s just not done” from tutting males including the folks at Moet who want to butt Barbe out, François’ father Phillipe (Ben Miles) is queasy about it too. But Barbe insists that not only can she do it but she also knows how to do it better than anyone else. Why do we create?, Barbe asks in voiceover at the movie’s beginning. “We” being humanity. Her answer is “it is so that we might uncover the secrets of ourselves.” You can only make champagne in the Champagne regions of France, but making it is indeed an act of creation. While the movie initially offers little beyond the dreamy foofaraw too often used to describe “creative process,” it eventually does pay attention to the practical aspects of winemaking, which in the case of Barbe and François can have decidedly eccentric or considered by the squares to be eccentric components, like talking to the vines.
Bennett is more than okay as the main character, she gets even more interesting when she decides to find love among her struggle at work. Russia booms economically due to Napoleon’s wars and their rampant Champagne consumption. However, one thing I found most intriguing about this film was Francois in flashbacks he starts off smart and funny then becomes increasingly moody or perhaps insane sounding. While trying not thwart him anymore than necessary for fear of what may happen next Barbe still wants something for herself too but does so without betraying any part of who knows how many years spent under an oppressive spouse’s thumb. It could’ve done way better with such an interesting setup like that though, even if it did include a score from Bryce Dessner (The National), not usually someone you think would be good at scoring period pieces. In the end Widow Clicquot seems like your average story of female resilience dressed up in some weirdness here or there which is fine by me because calling anything “girlboss” feels reductive but also accurate enough for this one!
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