Last night, courtesy of Netflix, Jean and I watched the film
"Mondovino." Having heard some of the buzz concerning this
anti-globalization polemic, I was prepared for the worst in the Michael
Moore piethrowing vein. Instead, I found myself much more comfortable
with the film than I had expected. I will not give a detailed review,
but rather just some impressions. Firstly, there is no narration and
Nossiter allows his interviewees to speak for themselves, though he
certainly attempts to frame the conversation with his questions.
Secondly, I find much of the criticism of this film a bit OTT: does
Nossiter really attack Parker? If so, how? Certainly, Nossiter must be
intelligent enough to realize that the potrait he paints on the screen
isn't malevolant or offensive. Parker comes off looking like the
passionate, honest person that he is. The cheap editing tricks of
throwing in "ominous" images are sophomoric, but hardly constitute an
attack. Thirdly, I found the portraits of Hubert de Montille and Aimé
Guibert to be more nuanced than simple hero worship: Guibert appeared to
be quite self-interested and de Montille to have a depth of sardonic
humor behind many of his more pessimistic statements. I also didn't
find the footage of the Mondavis to be at all damning; as opposed to the
incredibly self-absorbed Staglins and Michel Rolland.
I could go on, but I won't. Overall, I found the picture presented
by the film to be far more complex than I'd been led to expect. There
were few angels and only one devil. It didn't offer cheap solutions,
but rather pointed out the battle lines and introduced some of the
personalities. In particular, I found myself wondering what Nossiter
would make of the sale of Mondavi to Constellation and how it fits in
with his film's thesis. I could have done without all the WW II
references (is it any surprise that the Antinoris and Frescobaldis, both
pillars of the landed gentry, supported Mussolini? Who brought him to
power if not the aristocracy?) but that is a minor quibble. Using Dale's
scale, I'd give Mondovino a B+

Mark Lipton
(Now seeking out Neal Rosenthal wines)

Mark Lipton wrote:
Last night, courtesy of Netflix, Jean and I watched the film
"Mondovino." Having heard some of the buzz concerning this
anti-globalization polemic, I was prepared for the worst in the Michael
Moore piethrowing vein. Instead, I found myself much more comfortable
with the film than I had expected. I will not give a detailed review,
but rather just some impressions. Firstly, there is no narration and
Nossiter allows his interviewees to speak for themselves, though he
certainly attempts to frame the conversation with his questions.
Secondly, I find much of the criticism of this film a bit OTT: does
Nossiter really attack Parker? If so, how? Certainly, Nossiter must be
intelligent enough to realize that the potrait he paints on the screen
isn't malevolant or offensive. Parker comes off looking like the
passionate, honest person that he is. The cheap editing tricks of
throwing in "ominous" images are sophomoric, but hardly constitute an
attack. Thirdly, I found the portraits of Hubert de Montille and Aimé
Guibert to be more nuanced than simple hero worship: Guibert appeared to
be quite self-interested and de Montille to have a depth of sardonic
humor behind many of his more pessimistic statements. I also didn't
find the footage of the Mondavis to be at all damning; as opposed to the
incredibly self-absorbed Staglins and Michel Rolland.
I could go on, but I won't. Overall, I found the picture presented by
the film to be far more complex than I'd been led to expect. There were
few angels and only one devil. It didn't offer cheap solutions, but
rather pointed out the battle lines and introduced some of the
personalities. In particular, I found myself wondering what Nossiter
would make of the sale of Mondavi to Constellation and how it fits in
with his film's thesis. I could have done without all the WW II
references (is it any surprise that the Antinoris and Frescobaldis, both
pillars of the landed gentry, supported Mussolini? Who brought him to
power if not the aristocracy?) but that is a minor quibble. Using Dale's
scale, I'd give Mondovino a B+

Mark Lipton
(Now seeking out Neal Rosenthal wines)

Did you view the extras? Some of the behind the scenes footage adds to
the film and is almost better than the film.
Jon

FWIW I agree with your analysis on all points.

You might like to amuse yourself by checking out reaction (som time
ago now) on the Squires' board to find out what the Parker camp found
objectionable.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

JonK wrote:


Did you view the extras? Some of the behind the scenes footage adds to
the film and is almost better than the film.

I did last night. I agree, some of the footage (especially the
interviews with Michel Lafarge and Aubert de Villaine) were tremendous.
I found that Lafarge's relating the story of why they cellar their
wines without labels to be fascinating and moving.

Mark Lipton