The Vintner's Luck (film)

The Vintner's Luck[2] is a 2009 internationally co-produced romantic drama film co-written and directed by Niki Caro. It is loosely based on the 1998 novel by Elizabeth Knox. The film had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2009.

The Vintner's Luck
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNiki Caro
Written by
  • Niki Caro
  • Joan Scheckel
Based onThe Vintner's Luck
by Elizabeth Knox
Produced by
  • Ludi Boeken
  • Pascal Judelewicz
  • Niki Caro
  • Robin Laing
  • Laurie Parker
Starring
CinematographyDenis Lenoir
Edited byDavid Coulson
Music byAntônio Pinto
Production
companies
  • Acajou Films
  • Kortex Cinema
  • Ascension Films
Release dates
  • September 12, 2009 (2009-09-12) (Toronto)
  • November 12, 2009 (2009-11-12) (New Zealand)
Running time
121 minutes
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget€8.5 million

The film stars Jérémie Renier, Vera Farmiga, Gaspard Ulliel, and Keisha Castle-Hughes. The film marked the second time Caro worked with Castle-Hughes, a New Zealand actress and Academy Award nominee.[3]

Plot

The film is the story of Sobran Jodeau (Jérémie Renier), an ambitious young peasant winemaker, and the three loves of his life – his beautiful wife Celeste (Keisha Castle-Hughes), the proudly intellectual baroness Aurora de Valday (Vera Farmiga), and Xas (Gaspard Ulliel), an angel who strikes up an unlikely but enduring friendship that borders on eroticism with him.

Under Xas' guidance, Sobran is forced to fathom the nature of love and belief and in the process grapples with the sensual, the sacred and the profane – in pursuit of the perfect vintage.[2]

Cast

Production

The film was directed by Niki Caro and co-written by Caro and Joan Scheckel. The film is based on the novel The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox. Its development was announced in 2003, while Caro was promoting her previous film Whale Rider; Caro had learned that the novel's option was available for purchase and visited Knox's home doorstep with flowers. At that time, Knox said she was confident Caro would do the novel justice.[4]

However, after its release Knox was disappointed at the direction taken by the film. She felt Caro "took out what the book was actually about", referring to the romantic homosexual relationship between Sobran and Xas, which was a core aspect of the novel and was very noticeably toned down in the film version, though it still hinted at it. Knox said that she "laid in bed and cried for days" after being shocked and upset by how much it departed from her story.[5]

The Vintner's Luck was filmed in New Zealand, at Studio West in West Auckland.[6]

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2009. It was later released in New Zealand on 12 November 2009, Australia on 14 January 2010, and Japan on 23 October 2010. In the United States, the film opened at the Sedona Film Festival on 23 February 2011. It was released to French cinemas on 25 January 2012. The film was released on DVD in the UK on 20 September 2010, in Germany on 16 March 2012, and in the United States on 17 April 2012.

Reception

Critical response

The film has received polarized responses since the Toronto Film Festival. Positive reviews included Paul Fischer of Dark Horizons who said: "A film about humanity and spirituality, Caro directs this film with an exquisite sense of detail. Gorgeous in all facets of visual detail, The Vintner's Luck is also a fascinating romantic melodrama, and at its core, comprises a cast that is spot on";[7] and Kate Rodger of 3 News who said, "For me, The Vintner's Luck was a gorgeous collection of imagery, sound and movement, with moments of intoxicating beauty."[8] Other reviewers criticised the film. Peter Brunette of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "It's difficult to believe that the same director who made the simple and affecting Whale Rider in 2002 is responsible for The Vintner's Luck, an overblown work of amazing silliness."[9] Justin Chang for Variety wrote, "Caro never finds the emotional pulse of the story" in an adaptation he described as "drearily literal-minded". However, he praised the "lyrical widescreen cinematography."[10]

In a 2016 article for the Academy of New Zealand Literature, David Larsen discussed the relationship of the film to the novel. He notes that there were "so many problems with this film at a basic craft level that it’s hard to winnow out a sense of exactly what went wrong in its production process". He highlights Caro's treatment of the relationship between Sobran and Xas, which in the book is one of the most important romantic relationships of Sobran's life. Another departure he highlights is that in the film Xas asks Sobran to cut off his wings, rather than them being forcibly removed by Lucifer. Larsen noted that this appears to have homophobic subtext but thought perhaps it was "just the unfortunate cumulative side effect of an unhappy production process".[11]

Accolades
Year Award Recipient(s) Category Result
2010 New Zealand Film & TV Awards Vera Farmiga Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film Won
Grant Major Best Production Design in a Feature Film Won
Beatrix Pasztor Best Costume Design in a Feature Film Won
Denis Lenoir Best Cinematography Nominated
Keisha Castle-Hughes Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film Nominated
2011 Houston International Film Festival Niki Caro Gold Remi Best Directing Won
The Vintner's Luck Special Jury Award – Best Foreign Film Won
Sedona International Film Festival Best Period Film Won

See also

References
  1. "The Vintner's Luck (2009)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. "The Vintner's Luck". New Zealand Film Commission. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. Frater, Patrick (22 May 2007). "Caro, Castle-Hughes reteam on 'Luck'". Variety. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. Cardy, Tom (4 July 2003). "Vintner's Luck to get Whale Rider touch". The Dominion Post. p. A1.
  5. "Author cried over Vintner's Luck film". Stuff. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  6. "Our Story". Studio West. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. Fischer, Paul (14 September 2009). "Toronto Review: 'The Vintner's Luck'". Dark Horizons. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  8. Rodger, Kate (7 November 2009). "The Vintner's Luck Review". 3 News. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  9. Brunette, Peter (14 September 2009). "The Vintner's Luck – Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  10. Chang, Justin (13 September 2009). "The Vintner's Luck". Variety. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  11. Larsen, David (10 October 2016). "High Fidelity?". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
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