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Has anybody read "The Vintner's Luck" by Elizabeth Knox?I'm a huge fan of the Belgian actor Jérémie Renier (L'Enfant, A Love to Hide) and a few weeks ago I was looking at his IMDb page and saw that he had signed up for a movie called The Vintner's Luck based on a novel by the New Zealand author Elizabeth Knox; further research revealed that Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country) was set to direct, with Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement, Hannibal Rising) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) on the co-star list--unfortunately, it looks like financing fell through at the last minute, so it's been delayed until next year. Anyway, the reason I mention it here is because according to blurbs about the book it seems to have a homoerotic aspect -- the novel covers 55 years in the life of a French vintner (the role that was to be played by Renier) who, one day early in the 19th century, finds an angel (the Gaspard Ulliel role) in his vineyard, and they met every year thereafter, even, apparently becoming lovers at one point! I wonder if anyone has read this novel? Sadly, it appears to be out of print here in the U.S., but I'm scouring used bookstores to see if I can find it. Would love to hear from anybody who may have read the book. Submitted by Joseph (4063 points) (817 posts) on Mon, 2007-03-19 20:58. |
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Sounds interesting. Definitely...
Just read The Vintner's Luck
I managed to find a copy of The Vintner's Luck at a used bookstore; I started reading it Sunday afternoon, finished it last night. This is going to sound like excessive, over-the-top hyperbole, but The Vintner’s Luck is one of the very best novels I’ve ever read in my life, an extraordinary, dazzling, hypnotic, exquisite work of prose.
To reiterate the narrative: the story begins on a midsummer night in 1808, in a vineyard belonging to the Jodeau family in Burgundy; drunken 18 year old Sobran Jodeau stumbles into the vineyard and falls into the arms of a male angel, Xas; the two bond immediately, and make a pact to meet in the same place on the same night every year thereafter; thus we follow the development of the relationship between the Frenchman and the angel, each with their own secrets, over the course of the next 5 ½ decades, through marriages, deaths, wars, diseases, injuries (emotional and physical).
It’s an epic romance, but unlike any I’ve ever read; not just the fact that it’s about the homosexual love affair between a man and an immortal, but the way in which it touches upon themes of faith, loss, sexuality, death, and, of course, love. It features an aspect that I admire in all the finest novels (and films): it’s unpredictable, and in unpredictable ways – details are revealed subtly, in gentle asides, never forced. And it moves with skill towards a heart wrenchingly lovely conclusion.
As for the now-delayed film version, I do hope they can retain the announced cast; Gaspard Ulliel has the requisite soft beauty required for Xas, while Jérémie Renier provides the more earthly counterpart (indeed, Renier was recommended by Knox to director Niki Caro on the basis of his appearance in The Brotherhood of the Wolf); Vera Farmiga remains a question mark to me – I’ve only seen her in The Departed, and I don’t know if she’d be playing Sobran’s unstable wife, Céleste, or Sobran’s other lover, the Baroness Aurora. And, I hesitate to say this but I must, the big issue for me is director Caro herself: she touched on spiritual issues in Whale Rider, but was unable to overcome a hackneyed script with North Country; The Vintner’s Luck requires a deft touch, balancing the reality and the fantastical that is so much a part of the novel’s greatness.
Anyway, if you can hunt this book down, I urge you to do so – it’s truly, truly magnificent.
Gapard Ulliel
The Vinter's Luck
I ADORE this book - I bought
From the Hollywood Reporter....
'Luck' is right vintage for Caro to helm
By Gregg KildayMay 22, 2007
The film revolves around a peasant winemaker in 19th century France as he grapples with the sensual, sacred and profane while searching for the perfect vintage. The cast includes Jeremie Renier, Gaspard Ulliel, Vera Farmiga, Maria Ruiz and Keisha Castle-Hughes, who starred in Caro's "Whale Rider."
Principal photography is scheduled for February in Auckland, New Zealand before moving in March to the Burgundy region of France and then Belgium. The New Zealand-French co-production is being financed by the New Zealand Film Production Fund, the New Zealand Film Commission, the Motion Investment Group of Belgium (Adrian Politkowski), Tokyo-based OLC Rights Entertainment (Masaharu Inaba) and Kortex Cinema of France.
"The Vintner's Luck" is an Ascension Films-Kortex co-production. Producers are Laurie Parker, Robin Laing, Caro, Pascal Judelewicz, Ludi Boeken and Jean-Francois Klein. International sales are being handled by Kathleen Drumm of NZ Film, the sales arm of the NZ Film Commission.