MONDOVINO

Year: 2004
USA: ThinkFilm
UK: UGC Films UK
Cast: Hubert De Montille, Aime Guibert, Robert Parker, Michel Rolland, Neal Rosenthal
Director: Jonathan Nossiter
Countries: Argentina / France / Italy / USA
Languages: French / Italian / Spanish / Portuguese / English (English subtitles)
UK: 137 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for brief pin-up nudity
UK Certificate: PG contains mild nudity
USA Release Date: 23 March 2005 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 10 December 2004 (Limited Release - London)

Synopsis

Across three continents, MONDOVINO weaves together the family succession sagas of billionaire Napa Valley power brokers, the rivalry of two aristocratic Florentine dynasties and the efforts of three generations of a Burgundian family fighting to preserve their few acres of land. But are all these struggles secondary to the exploits of a gleefully mischievous pirate from Bordeaux who spreads the gospel of modernity from Italy to New York to Argentina?

Wine has been a symbol of Western civilization for thousands of years. Never has the fight for its soul been as desperate. Never has there been so much money -and pride- at stake. But the battle lines are not what you'd expect: local versus multinational, simple peasants versus powerful captains of industry. In the world of wine, it is never the usual suspects.

Jonathan Nossiter (SIGNS AND WONDERS) examines the fragrant and frequently cutthroat world of winemaking as a reflection of social transition and disappearing tradition. Travelling across three continents to introduce us to heady mixture of grape-growers, rogues, and modernisers, MONDOVINO ultimately provides a provocative and entertaining argument against globalisation.