Friday, September 27, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - Jean Renoir

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  This week, a trio of subtitled classics from one of the all-time great directors. Wine pairings, too, of course. 

Jean Renoir's father was an artist, too. He operated before the era of motion pictures, so his canvas was, well, a canvas. The elder Renoir was that Renoir. The French impressionist. The National Lampoon Radio Hour once did a bit entitled, "The French Impressionists." The announcer introduced it, and another voice came on, doing an over-the-top impression of a French comic. "First," the comic said, "I like to do zee Ed Soo-lee-von. Eet eez a reeelly big shew." The bit was mercifully short. Anyway, until I took an art appreciation class in college, that was my exposure to French impressionists. And it was in film appreciation class that I learned of Jean Renoir, the French director. I really appreciated college. 

Everyone's introduction to Renoir, the auteur, is likely 1937's Grand Illusion. Set in World War I, with World War II looming, the story of the French airmen in a German POW camp bid a not-so-fond adieu to the idea that aristocratic bonds could transcend the atrocity of war. 

Back then, battlefield conflict was thought to be the war that would end all wars. Turns out it doesn't work that way. Where would we be without war? Four more years of LBJ, no more years of Nixon, no peace sign memes, no Wolf Blitzer. I guess I could live with that. Oh, and no Hogan's Heroes. 

For Grand Illusion, let's salute the de Nonancourt family, who hid the best vintages of their Laurent-Perrier Champagne from the Nazis. Their Grand Siècle cuvée of grand cru Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blends three vintages, 2012, 2008, and 2007, for those who know their Champagne years. It's Iteration 26 and it sells for about $250. Sing "La Marseillaise" while sipping, please. 

A Day in the Country was released in 1946, a decade after it was shot. It is the story of a love affair that begins and ends on the same day. Well, maybe not a love affair. Maybe it was more like, "Hey, my dad and fiancé are going fishing and these fellows have a boat they want to show me." Anyway, it turns into a picnic on the banks of the Seine, without, you know, the food. The moral of the film is never let your daughter go boating with a guy wearing a horizontal striped t-shirt. That goes double for your wife. 

If you want rosé, you want Provence. And if you want Provence, you want Bandol. Château Vannières Rosé is the perfect pink for a picnic or if you just want to get that nice young lady into your boat. It sells for around $30. 

In case you don't get enough exposure to feelings of entitlement in your average day, take in a viewing of The Rules of the Game. The Renoir film from 1939 brings enough biting satire to the table to cover a full day even in an entitlement-rich place like La-La Land.

The setting of the hard-nosed comedy is a country estate in France, where a group of bougie pals get together for a weekend soirée. The dance card includes staring down the impending world war with an overnight bag in one hand and a magnum of Champagne in the other. You have a dashing aviator's hurt feelings, mistaken identities, and death, as the recipe for a bunch of king-sized mal de têtes. 

You'll want only the best for this viewing party, and we're not talking about Veuve Clicquot. A good bottle of vintage Dom Perignon will run you about three bills - but it could still leave you with stars in your eyes if you gulp too much of it.


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