The Vitner's Luck - DVD

The Vitner's Luck - DVD (2009)

I loved the book this story is based on, and was saddened that the movie received such poor reviews, but knew that it would be a hard story to adapt. Set in 19th centuary France, a poor peasant winemaker, Sobran finds the secret to making a good wine with the assistance of an angel Xas. In the book they share so much together, and upon getting married Xas promises to return to meet up with Sobran each year.

The movie was sumptuous, the shots of the vineyard and chateau, the peasants home and plants and bugs were beautiful. However it seemed to lack a soul, the main characters seemed to speak the words and act passionately, but it never seemed to flow or make sense. I was distracted seeing Keish Castle-Hughes, who although was looking beautiful was definately a maori girl in the wrong period film. In the book, the story spans the years of Sobrans life, yet his wife looked 19 throughout, and was not aged at all.

In total, a 2/5 for although lovely to look at, this movie failed to capture the magic of the book or turn into a different, but better version.