What one wouldn't give to own a vineyard in south-eastern France. What one wouldn't do to spend an evening with a beautiful French girl. Ridley Scott's A Good Year is a beautiful film about life and its endless bounties. It's a film that often goes unnoticed in the English filmmaker's body of work.
In life we sometimes get so busy that we fail to recognize what we truly desire. We even forget how to really live our lives. Lost in this modern-day madness, we get reduced to the state of machines with no feelings or emotions.
The movie revolves around a ruthless London-based banker named Max Shiner who following his uncle's death becomes the sole beneficiary of his French estate in Provence. He is so immersed in his corporate life that he doesn't even care to visit his uncle during his final days despite him being the only surviving family member.
When he learns that he has inherited his uncle's property, Shiner travels to France at once with the hope of making a quick sale. But things don't exactly go according to plan and Shiner is stuck. The time he gets to spend at the estate makes him nostalgic as he fondly remembers his childhood. How his uncle had taught him to appreciate the finer things in life--all of which he seems to have forgotten owing to his busy life. Before too long he gets enchanted by a head- strong and beautiful French girl. But time is quickly running out. Shiner must now make a final call: to sell the property and return to London or to quit his job and settle down in Provence.
A Good Year presents Russell Crowe in a very different light. For a change, we get to see his tender side. Crowe shares great chemistry with Marion Cotillard. One just can't afford to blink in between the scenes the two share. It's a pure delight to watch them play around, filling the air with passion and romance. It's impossible not to fall in love with them. The film is a testament to Ridley Scott's versatility as a filmmaker. Kudos to him for concocting a beautiful tale about life and for eliciting such memorable performances from all his actors.
For more on the world of cinema, please visit my film blog "A Potpourri of Vestiges".
In life we sometimes get so busy that we fail to recognize what we truly desire. We even forget how to really live our lives. Lost in this modern-day madness, we get reduced to the state of machines with no feelings or emotions.
The movie revolves around a ruthless London-based banker named Max Shiner who following his uncle's death becomes the sole beneficiary of his French estate in Provence. He is so immersed in his corporate life that he doesn't even care to visit his uncle during his final days despite him being the only surviving family member.
When he learns that he has inherited his uncle's property, Shiner travels to France at once with the hope of making a quick sale. But things don't exactly go according to plan and Shiner is stuck. The time he gets to spend at the estate makes him nostalgic as he fondly remembers his childhood. How his uncle had taught him to appreciate the finer things in life--all of which he seems to have forgotten owing to his busy life. Before too long he gets enchanted by a head- strong and beautiful French girl. But time is quickly running out. Shiner must now make a final call: to sell the property and return to London or to quit his job and settle down in Provence.
A Good Year presents Russell Crowe in a very different light. For a change, we get to see his tender side. Crowe shares great chemistry with Marion Cotillard. One just can't afford to blink in between the scenes the two share. It's a pure delight to watch them play around, filling the air with passion and romance. It's impossible not to fall in love with them. The film is a testament to Ridley Scott's versatility as a filmmaker. Kudos to him for concocting a beautiful tale about life and for eliciting such memorable performances from all his actors.
For more on the world of cinema, please visit my film blog "A Potpourri of Vestiges".