Day 72: A Good Year

Following the death of his uncle, Max (Russell Crowe) finds that he has inherited a glorious estate in France. He’s an arrogant, English bond trader (Possibly? I’m going with IMDb’s word on that one, I don’t understand all that stock market malarkey) and he plans to sell the estate for as much money as he can. However, once he goes out there, his memories of the place are awakened and he finds it difficult to let go.

I have to just spend a paragraph gushing about how beautiful it all is, my god. The house is brilliant, it’s a sensational mix of gorgeous and dishevelled, I love it. And all around it just seems ideal for exploring, I was just picturing myself there discovering things. Vineyards always look lovely, such a beautiful thing to have next to your house. How could he even consider selling it? It will definitely be the setting for my happy place from now on. The film itself is beautifully shot, too. Excellent use of light, really made it seem magical.

Is it ever more obvious what’s going to happen than when someone says that a person will never love again? As soon as Francis (Didier Bourdon) told Max that Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard) would never again let a man near her heart, I said out loud, ‘She will definitely love him then’. I like when it’s so obvious. And how could Max do anything but love her? She is fantastic, and feisty (nobody uses that word enough) is always a hit. She tells him that she only spent the night with him because she knows they don’t have a future and it seems that may be the way of it, as he is adamant that he is selling the place and going back to England. But after selling he has a change of heart and returns to France, and goes to see her. She asks him if he’s sure he knows what he wants and he says, perhaps the most winning line I’ve heard in a while: “I would like a lifetime spent with an irrational and suspicious goddess. With some short-tempered jealousy on the side. And a bottle of wine that tastes like you, and a glass that’s never empty.”  Excellent!

Is it possible to feel like you’re in love just from watching a film? That’s the only way to describe this feeling that I am experiencing. I’m going to give it the highest marks because I feel all aglow.

10/10