When it comes to the recent trend of films exploring the genesis of famous brands, Widow Clicquot isn’t the best (Air, about the creation of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers) or worst (Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld’s dire comedy about Pop Tarts). It’s a dramatically sound underdog story and period piece about a tenacious woman determined to keep her husband’s vineyard in France from ruin after his death. That woman would shape the direction of renowned champagne brand Veuve Clicquot, one of the best selling and most asked for spirits in the world today. The period setting helps set Widow Clicquot apart from a lot of its male dominated peers, and the story at the heart of director Thomas Napper’s film (based on a book by Tilar J. Mazzeo) is dramatically fruitful, but the aftertaste of this one won’t linger long in the memory.
Haley Bennett stars as Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, wife and widow of François Clicquot (Tom Sturridge), who was a troubled winemaker with one of the most beautiful vineyards in all of Champagne. After his passing at a relatively young age, the vineyards are bequeathed to Barbe, who decides she wants to keep producing wine, even though François left the company and the land largely in ruins. This doesn’t sit well with Barbe’s father-in-law, Phillipe (Ben Miles) who is keen to sell the vineyard to rival winemaker, Moët. In addition to not being able to pay fieldworkers and the rough state of the land, war is at their doorstep and Napoleonic embargoes threaten their export business. With the help of a savvy wine merchant (Sam Riley), Barbe tries everything in her power to keep control over the family business.
Widow Clicquot is the story of a devoted woman defying sexist ideologies and brutal market conditions to create one of the biggest alcoholic empires in history. On one hand, it’s a well told story of perseverance and female empowerment. On the other, it’s an ode to a multi-million dollar a year company and its hardscrabble roots. It’s hard to divorce one story from the other, and while that spectre of capitalism looms large over Widow Clicquot, the story of the woman who saved the company from extinction or absorption by competitors is one worth telling.
Napper delivers an austere look at French vineyard ownership in the early 1800s, portraying the setting as one of restrained opulence and a place where high society and agriculture meet on uneven ground. It’s dark, and one can almost feel the damp and smoke coming off the screen, which makes this the perfect backdrop for a period piece melodrama. There’s lots of impassioned speeches and chest pounding declarations of pride and anger throughout Widow Clicquot, and while the script is a tad overwrought (especially during flashback sequences that show François deep into his battles with mental illness), the marriage of setting to material is satisfactory and sensical.
Bennett (who also functions as one of the film’s producers) creates a wonderful starring role for her often underrated talents as a performer. As Nicole, Bennett creates a palpable sense of not only strength, but of grieving and loss. Bennett lays bare Nicole’s sense of responsibility as if the widower weren’t only trying to save a dying business, but also battling back from an all encompassing void of sadness. It’s a unique approach to depict anyone working at the head of a business – in any time period – as being driven by sadness and savvy at the same time, and Bennett handles both sides of the character with grace and gravitas.
Widow Clicquot might be playing fast and loose with some of the historical elements, and some seemingly important developments are frustratingly handled off screen, either for pacing or budgetary considerations. But on the whole, Widow Clicquot is the type of film that has just enough juice to keep the attention viewers who might not otherwise have interest in the story of its historical figurehead. In terms of scope and breadth, Widow Clicquot is slight, but assured, and the emphasis remains in all the right places.
Widow Clicquot opens in select Canadian cities on Friday, July 19, 2024.
