‘Back to Burgundy’ misses the mark

BACK to Burgundy, a lushly photographed family drama set in the famous French wine region, dwells on the winemaking process, as the capable ensemble cast navigates domestic tensions.

But the film’s central metaphor, life is like wine, is an overripe one.

Jean (Pio Marmaï), the eldest of three siblings from a winemaking family, has walked away from the family business, leaving Burgundy 10 years ago for Australia, where he produces wine with his girlfriend.

As the film opens, Jean has returned home to visit his dying father and reconnect with his sister and brother (Ana Girardot and François Civil).

After their father dies and the three are faced with a huge inheritance tax they must make a difficult choice: Keep making wine or, the more lucrative option, sell off the land.

This conflict between tradition and change, between family and money, exposes old resentments.

Just as each sibling has a different opinion about the best time to harvest grapes, for example, each one also harbours the memory of a personal slight.

In an effort to present as authentic a picture as possible, director Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole) filmed Burgundy over the course of four distinct seasons, shooting on location and consulting with Jean-Marc Roulot (a Burgundy winemaker and actor who appears in the film as the family’s estate manager).

Burgundy subtly reinforces the notion that a fine wine can only reveal itself after a slow process of ageing. Unfortunately, the screenplay, which Klapisch wrote with Santiago Amigorena and Roulot, ignores its own advice.

If Back to Burgundy were a wine, I’d say it has a complex flavour profile, but an overly aggressive finish. To put it in terms that even a mass-market vintner might understand, it’s a bottle that has been served before its time.

*Two and one-half stars. Unrated. Contains obscenity, brief nudity and sexual situations. 113 minutes.

This conflict between tradition and change, between family and money, exposes old resentments