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Australia, China, France · 2013
1h 15m
Director David Roach
Starring Debra Meiburg, Sara Eisen
Genre Documentary, History
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Bordeaux has long been a major wine producing region, but in 2008 they began struggling with bringing in profit when American wine consumers stopped buying wine en masse. However, wine producers noticed a spike in wine consumption elsewhere—China—and turned their attention there.
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Red Obsession, a little too stuffed for its nearly 80 minutes, may already be dated, since China’s wine fever has cooled recently. Still, the movie raises legitimate concerns about the cultural and economic implications of status-minded overconsumption.
Photographed with an alluring sheen that complements the coldly commercial wheelings and dealings of its subjects, Red Obsession fascinatingly reveals how Old World vintner artistry is being shaken up by New World supply and demand.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Documentaries by their nature are prisoners of their moment in time. If they are fortunate, as the makers of Red Obsession are, that moment, even if it's brief, will be able to hold our interest.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey
Fittingly, it’s finally a film about transience and continuity.
Steeped in centuries of custom and dependent on the ever-fickle relationship between soil, weather, and human craftsmanship, the work is likened by Francis Ford Coppola to a “miracle,” and one that tells a story about the time, place, and circumstances that gave each vintage its birth.
Red Obsession is informative, and entertainingly so, with its honeyed Russell Crowe narration and sweet tracking shots through sun-dappled vineyards.
Village Voice by Pete Vonder Haar
The doc affords us a look into a world rarely seen by the lumpenproletariat, though we could have done with fewer aerial/time-lapse shots and more history.
The film’s rather simplistic cultural juxtapositions, pitting artistic appreciators against status-seeking philistines, work best when narrowly focused on the subject of wine.
RogerEbert.com by Sheila O'Malley
The footage of Bordeaux is awe-inspiring, with aerial shots of the great chateaux and the vineyards. Closeups of the labels from the different chateaux abound, along with luscious shots of glimmering wine being poured. The obsessive nature of the entire industry is reflected in these shots, a good marriage of theme and form.
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