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Mondovino

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Actors: Albiera Antinori, Lodovico Antinori, Michael Broadbent, Battista Columbu, Lina Columbu
Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
Category: DVD

List Price: ~~$7.99~~
Buy New: $4.53
You Save: $3.46 (43%)

New (7) Used (10) from $3.99

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

33 reviews
Sales Rank: 12050

Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Italian (Original Language), Portuguese (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 135
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: DTF53455D
UPC: 821575534550
EAN: 0821575534550
ASIN: B0009OL8E4

Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: July 12, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW AND FACTORY SEALED

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 33

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Mondovino November 6, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

It's kinda slow moving and a little hard to watch, the camera moves all around and you have to read sub-titles. But overall enjoyable.

4 out of 5 stars

The wine world uncorked. November 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

As a trained sommelier, filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter knows his wine. Filmed with a hand-held Sony PD-150 digital camcorder, his 2004 documentary Mondovino ("world of wine") was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2004 (one of only four documentaries ever nominated in the history of the festival). The equally fascinating and intoxicating film uncorks the esoteric mysteries about wine, wine culture (production, distribution and consumption), and the significance of wine. It also reveals the influence of critics like Robert Parker (Wine Advocate), oenologists like Michel Rolland (a proponent of the use of microoxygenation in wine), and large, multinational wine producers like Robert Mondavi (Harvests of Joy) on the wine industry. The film offers viewers an inside glimpse into French vineyards including Domaine de Souch, Domaine Hubert de Montille, Chateau Le Gay, Domaine de Daumas Gassac, and Chateau Clinet, and Napa vineyards including Robert Mondavi Winery, Opus One Winery, and Staglin Family Vineyards. My small criticisms of the film are (1) at 135 minutes, it is too much of a good thing; (2) it sometimes loses its focus; and (3) the camera work becomes frequently annoying. Oenophiles and Sideways grape geeks will savor this film. For others, however, the film might just prove to be an acquired taste.

G. Merritt

3 out of 5 stars

interesting May 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I've noticed that the reviews seem to be good or bad, depending on if the reviewer agrees or disagrees with the filmmaker's perspective. I'm fairly new to the wine hobby, so the subject matter was also pretty new to me. It was certainly interesting to see perspectives from a variety of people in the industry. It is also interesting to see the behind-the-scenes politics of wine. The filmmaker has an opinion, but I don't think it was overly stressed as all subjects spoke for themselves; i.e., he edited the film, but didn't put words into anyone's mouth.
As some have mentioned, the camera work is terrible, but the film is much more about what's being said than about what's being filmed. Happily, the subtitles are stationary, so the shoddy filming didn't bother me much. I'd recommend it for someone who, like myself, has a passion (or developing passion) for wine. For someone not particularly interested in wine, it's probably not worth watching.

5 out of 5 stars

Great film, but you better know your wines March 19, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

For people who truly love life and love wine, this film is a masterpiece. However, I would only suggest it to people who have some knowledge about wine and the wine trade. Personally, I've worked in the industry for a few years now, so I was already familiar with the big names in the movie (Mondavi, Parker, Broadbent, Rolland, etc.) If I knew absolutely nothing about wine, I probably would have been bored to tears for much of the two and a half hours. Which is a shame, because there are some incredibly interesting ideas and people scattered throughout this film. Even the villains of the movie (whom they are depends on your perspective) have intriguing personalities.

The crux of the movie is this: you have an ongoing battle in the wine industry between climate wines and terrior wines; industrial wines and agricultural wines; huge corporations and small producers. The fact of the matter is that more and more people, like Rolland and Mondavi, view wine simply as a tradable commodity that they can make a profit off of. They find out what will get high scores from people like Parker and publications like Wine Spectator, and they then tailor their wines in such a way that they will get a high score. The high score will lead the sheep to their wine, and profits are made by all. Everybody wins! Well, everyone except the consumers who end up with bland, innocuous tasting wines that easily could have been made anywhere by anyone. But hey, who cares about them, as long as they keep giving us their money.

Others, such as Broadbent and the filmmakers (yes, this film is clearly biased and if you can't tolerate that, then don't watch it) see wine as something greater than that. They, like myself, believe that wine should not become just another branded product, like everything else has these days. It shouldn't be about what score a wine got, but what it actually tastes like (what a novel concept.) It makes me think of a particular wine we carried in the store that I work at. For months it just sat on the shelf, collecting dust. Nobody even bothered to ask about it, let alone buy it. Then Wine Spectator gave it a 93 or something. Within a week, we had sold all of those dusty bottles. Just lead the sheep to the wine, and profits will be made.

This movie shows a small slice of the battle that is being fought everyday, both here and abroad. It is not simply about wine, it is about life and what makes it truly worth living. Is it about experiences and expanding your consciousness? Or is it about your net worth and expanding your business portfolio? Contrary to what some of these reviewers say, this movie does not decry everything that is big. It decries everything that is false. Globalized Western Capitalism has changed the game. It no longer matters if you have a quality product; what you need is a fancy logo, a catchy name, an unlimited marketing budget, some industry connections, and an ocean of naive consumers ready to believe anything that you tell them. I suppose it was only a matter of time before this type of brand oriented thinking poisoned the wine industry.

1 out of 5 stars

Propaganda: misleading cuts, smears, ad hominem attacks March 10, 2007
6 out of 18 found this review helpful

This is the ultimate hatchet job, infused with politics and anti-globalization rants, and oversimplifying complex issues. The camera work often looks like it was done by a 12-year-old. But substantively, the level of professionalism is far worse. The film seems deliberately cut to make melodramatic points and take peoples' words out of context. Anyone little becomes a hero, including folks like H. De Montille, who said he was "content" after 9-11. Then we get what can only be considered smear tactics-- things like the digression to examine the Frescobaldi fascist past. Evidently, this proves their winemaking must be bad. Your mind should turn off now. Similar investigation into de Montille's past? Uh, no. Parker gets to talk a lot about farting dogs, but he can't respond to Broadbent's unintentionally hilarious rant. If you're big, you're bad. Period. This incredibly stupid, simplistic and ultra-leftist view of wine is one of the great hatchet jobs of all time, not to mention overlong, incompetently produced and utterly tedious. A film that makes a crank like de Montille into a hero and Robert Mondavi, who risked every nickel his family had to transform California, into a corporate villain, loses its footing with its initial, childish premise. This film is on a 4th grade level--except that is insulting to 4th graders.

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