GeoPierpont
Getting rather aggravated with these nouveau riche Chinese folks who think they are going to show up the world. Well, who would be proud to have ANYTHING that says MADE IN CHINA?? Complete embarrassment and they only have to purchase another countries goods to feel proud. Shameful.Appreciating the whole USA California Napa wine growing region recognized in the 1970's as superior to French wines does not seem to impress our fellow hoarders. However, Appellation Chinoise receives the coveted designation and highest awards with Parker in tow with their vineyards, but who believes this was not bought and sold? If a stellar vintage occurs every 20 years but suddenly it happens overnight in China? OK folks let talk bridge sales.I appreciated the delightful cinematography of the French wine regions and their respective histories. I am spoiled by having a touch of access to superb Napa wine selections and decided that craft beers are a more satisfying and affordable experience. Hence, I recommend for French wine enthusiasts and the roller derby that China brings to the table. Russel Crowe is the definitive narrator.
Jesse Boland
Solid documentary showing both the highs, and the lows of the impact a China can have on any industry, as the moods of their people shift from one object of status to another. Very fair to both sides, and this movie kept the dialog clear, and open. There are some amazing interviews that really show how much China has opened up to so many new things. We are shown very nicely how the people have come from such oppression to this relative freedom, and new levels of power, that are similar to what other countries have been through during most of the last half of the 20th century, though on a much grander scale. Slow at times, I did Enjoy the over all tale, and the lessons being taught are not heavy handed or really all that surprising. I recommend this to wine people, and world travelers alike, but there is much to be enjoyed by the average person as you get to see some sights from all over the world set in beautiful time lapsed film work. All I say is just wait till India joins the games.
dr-damien-wilson
I'm a wine person. I have consumed, studied, taught and debated the topic for almost 30 years now. I love the stuff. But... watching this film reminded me how wound up we wine-people are in our own world. Although I found the documentary interesting and important to know, I also recognise that this film grossed less than US$10,000- at the box office. Now, I don't know what the budget was to make this film, but who in their right mind thought that this would be a good idea for a theatrical release? I'm guessing that enough people got together and convinced themselves that this would work. And secured enough funding from (almost surely) a wealthy wine-lover. No rational film producer would ever have looked at the script and gone 'Yeah, images of French châteaux, and celebrities in the wine field will be a huge hit! Let's get Rusty to narrate and we've got it made!!!' If you're just starting to develop an interest in wine, this should be mandatory watching. Enthusiasts already know most of the content, and will probably bemoan the lack of further detail. But if wine isn't your thing, you'll really wish you'd spent the 75 minutes on another film.
nando1301-1
This is a documentary for wine lovers. Beer drinkers need not apply.The film is tastefully done, great photography, beautiful soundtrack. Needs to be watched with a glass of red wine in hand, as it really whets your appetite.Should it go deeper into the subject? Should it explain that the great French Wine Blight did NOT make the 1855 classification obsolete, because the vines were grafted to Chilean roots (resistant to the phylloxera) imported hastily in thousands, to save them (not only in France, but in other parts of Europe too)?Maybe. That would have made for a slightly longer film, perhaps more thrilling (Will the vines be completely lost? Who could save them? Wait! Up in the sky: it's a bird... it's a plane... No, it's super-vine! Actually, it was "la super viña", from Chile).But it would have been a different film, missing the elegant balance of this one.Perhaps this film's success will spur a sequel: "Red Obsession 2 - Attack of the insects from Hell". It will need a different soundtrack (by Hans Zimmer?) and a different narrator; Russell Crowe is too mellow for that!
AD
