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★★★☆☆ The third feature from French director Gilles Legrand, You Will Be My Son (Tu seras mon fils, 2011) sees the inimitable Niels Arestrup take the role of Paul de Marseul, a successful winemaker in Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux. With ample support from co-stars Lorànt Deutsch and Nicolas Bridet as his respective son and heir, Legrand has concocted a sharp, fruity family inheritance drama that he duly leaves to ferment ahead of the great uncorking. Whilst those with a receptive palette will find much to savour, what could have been the cinematic equivalent of a sprightly white or an intense red ends up more of a middling rose.

Disheartened by the notion of his 'weak' son Martin (a rodent-like Deutsch) taking over the family business, Paul faces further complication when his friend and business partner François (Patrick Chesnais) is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Paul doesn't believe his son to have inherited the qualities...

The North American Premiere of Gilles Legrand's You Will Be My Son (Tu seras mon fils) was the closing night event of the annual New York's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema on Sunday, March 10. Joining director Legrand on stage at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater was the star of his film Niels Arestrup, who as Saint-Émilion vineyard owner Paul de Marseu, was domineering with good reason. The thriller about fathers, sons and wine, inspired a discussion of these vital matters with Gavin Smith, editor & programming associate for Film Comment Selects, who moderated following the screening.

Gavin Smith: That must have been the most gripping film about wine making I have ever seen. What was your inspiration?

Gilles Legrand: I always wanted to make a movie in a vineyard. To make movies is to find problems, to create conflict. When I saw the Sean Penn (directed)...

Title: You Will Be My Son (Tu seras mon fils) Cohen Media Group Director: Gilles Legrand Screenwriter: Gilles Legrand, Delphine de Vigan Cast: Niels Arestrup, Lorant Deutsch, Patrick Chesnais, Nicolas Bridet Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 2/12/13 Opens: March 29, 2013 It’s only natural for fathers and mothers to want their sons and daughters to choose work similar to their own; that is, if the work done by the older generation is meaningful to society, enjoyable to themselves, and of course lucrative. A lawyer with an independent office, a doctor with her own practice, will want their children to take over their offices when retirement or death ensues. There’s an [ Read More ]

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The title of this distinguished French movie (aka Tu seras mon fils) has a biblical ring to it and suggests connections with the land, and indeed this is the case. It's set in the beautiful Saint Émilion wine country and seems to be a reworking of the parable of the prodigal son, but one designed to expose and rectify the unfairness of God. The confidently menacing Niels Arestrup plays the overbearing widower Paul de Marseul, a rich wine grower and owner of a grand domaine, who consistently demeans and humiliates his quietly industrious and devoted son. On the eve of the annual harvest, Paul seizes the opportunity to promote his terminally ill estate manager's charismatic son, who's been living abroad in America and Australia, and then make him his legal heir. The wise estate manager, however, has le dernier mot after le dernier cru. It's well acted, slips easily and...

★★★★☆ Awash with a macabre Bacchian tone, Gilles Legrand's intense family drama You Will Be My Son (Tu Seras Mon Fils, 2011) sees renowned French-Danish actor Niels Arestrup play a mercantile vineyard owner in a story set amid the fertile fields of Saint-Émilion, in the south west of France. Prestigious winemaker Paul de Marseul (Arestrup) lives a life of indulgence and luxury in his lavish château, where year on year he produces some of the world's finest vintages. His son, Martin (Loránt Deutsch), lacks the refinement of his father, but is desperate to take over the family business once the old man retires.

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