Vendémiaire

A slow, sincere rural drama that savours the rhythms of harvest and land while quietly carrying the weight of a war just out of sight.

Directed by

Louis Feuillade

Genres

Drama

Starring

René Cresté, Édouard Mathé, Louis Leubas

Overview

If you’re already familiar with Louis Feuillade, his little-known opus Vendémiaire may come as a surprise. Unlike the bulk of his work which was characterised as ‘Fantastic Realism’, Vendémiaire is wonderfully down-to-earth realism – or down-to-French-earth realism to be specific. The film itself is divided into four chapters, the titles of which suggest that this is a movie about the cultivation and consumption of wine. But as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that the cultivation and consumption of wine is an allegory for French culture and French land as a whole, and the real purpose of the film is to persuade the director’s fellow citizens to defend that spirit and those lands at all costs. It’s September 1918 and the war is coming to an end, but here on the Castelviel estate in the south of France the news has not yet arrived and everyone is busy with the grape harvest....

How it feels

Earnest, warm and melancholic. Measured and needs your attention.

About

War, family, trauma, identity

Content

Mild violence. No gore, sexual content or swearing.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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