Most Americans (and wine enthusiasts around the world) are familiar with Veuve Clicquot Champagnes and their distinctive bottles with golden yellow labels that symbolize celebration and luxury. But non-French speakers wouldn't understand the brand's full name and would therefore be missing out on the whole story.
The word “veuve” is French for “widow,” so the name of the wine is also the name of the movie about the woman behind the beloved bubbles. “Widow Clicquot” is the biopic of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (played by Haley Bennett), who took over the wine business from her husband, François (Tom Sturridge), when he was widowed in 1805 at age 27, making her one of France’s first — and most celebrated — entrepreneurs.
“Widow Clicquot” is an adaptation by Erin Dignam and Christopher Monger of the 2008 book “The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It” by Tilar J. Mazzeo. The script addresses important moments and glosses over details, but also leaves room for director Thomas Napper to lean into flashes of lyrical reverie. The film is a rich mix of historicity and poetry, unfolding the story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin in a nonlinear way that begins deeply romantic and grows more pragmatic as it leans into her power as a businesswoman.
This is Napper’s second feature as a director, though he’s worked as a second unit director on many of Joe Wright’s films, so it feels very much a Wright project (and not just because it stars Wright’s partner Bennett, who has also starred in several of his films). There’s a sensuality to Napper’s direction of “Widow Clicquot,” shot by Caroline Champetier, that evokes Wright’s aesthetic: an earthy, wholesome beauty familiar to fans of 2005’s “Pride & Prejudice” that’s tied to the land and its seasons.
The land itself is what kicks off Barbe-Nicole's journey toward creating one of France's largest champagne empires. Immediately after her husband's funeral, she is approached about selling the vineyards to Monsieur Moët (Nicholas Farrell). Although her father-in-law, Philippe (Ben Miles), disapproves of her new license, she is entitled to do what she wants with the property as heir to his will. Philippe gives her a limited opportunity to prove she can run the vineyard as she sees fit, and she immediately dispenses with labor hierarchies to operate as a “wheel,” which is initially a hard sell to her vineyard supervisors.
She continues her quest to fulfill François’s dreams of producing wine on his land, always moving forward and forging an alliance with Louis Bohne (Sam Riley), a wine merchant and close confidant (and perhaps closest friend) of her late husband. For the vineyard to succeed, Barbe-Nicole must be able to obtain her produce through Napoleonic embargoes, and she places her full trust in Louis to transport her precious cargo. She develops a new technique for making champagne that becomes all the rage in St. Petersburg thanks to Louis’ shrewd business skills, and in their collaboration, they too become inseparable, causing suspicion to be raised about the young widow.
Meanwhile, memories of François haunt her, and each flashback reveals more nuances of the story. At first, it seems as if they’ve led an almost impossibly idyllic life of pastoral beauty and wine-soaked sensuality; François is something of a manic pixie, lazing among the vines and teaching his wife tasting notes in bed. But her memories break through to show more of his troubled, tormented character, the challenges she endured, and the complicated nature of her death.
There’s a lot to unpack in a quick 90-minute film, and the script leans more in favor of Barbe-Nicole’s emotional journey than her entrepreneurial one. Her groundbreaking winemaking achievements (still in use today) are given short shrift in favor of the men in her life, which is a bit of a letdown. Still, “Widow Clicquot” is a worthy, if abbreviated, toast to the woman behind one of the world’s most iconic Champagnes.
Katie Walsh is a film critic for the Tribune News Service.
'Widow Clicquot'
Classification: R, for some sexuality and nudity.
Execution time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Playing: In limited release on Friday, July 19
