Widow Clicquot review – An easy drinking biopic with notes of familiarity

Historical drama Widow Clicquot was a smart release choice for National Women’s Day. Not only is it an inspiring, and arguably little known, tale of one woman’s influence over her field, but it’s wine centred, and as a winemaking nation, the film is likely to find extra traction among South Africa’s many armchair sommeliers. 

Based on Tilar J Mazzeo’s bestselling biography The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It, international collaboration Widow Clicquot tells the true story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, AKA the “Grande Dame of Champagne.” Widowed at just 27 in 1805, Barbe (played by Haley Bennett) was to assume control of her husband’s vineyards in rural France, and turn a struggling business into one of the most acclaimed champagne brands in the world – to this day. Veuve Clicquot, the name on those celebrated bottles, literally translates as Widow Clicquot.

Movie maker Thomas Napper, whose recent filmography includes episodes of The Wheel of Time, and Second Unit directing duties on the likes of Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour (all with Joe Wright) has created a film that is a blend of elegant period romance and ballsy business drama.

In terms of the latter, Widow Clicquot is a celebration of entrepreneurial spirit and sacrifice against the background of Napoleonic France, with embargos, an encroaching front line and women’s rights limitations standing in Barbe’s way. You can think of the film as the historical cousin to the recent likes of AIR, Tetris, Flamin’ Hot and Unfrosted, where determination against the odds, and bold, unorthodox choices, revolutionised the respective industries of each real life figure. Expect the Widow Clicquot thought leadership pieces to pop up on LinkedIn shortly.

Though a true story, or, rather, inspired by real-life events, its mix of traditional and more contemporary elements gives Widow Clicquot an invigorating energy. The film is never slow, dull or relentlessly dour. It also benefits from an interesting structure which shifts seamlessly between Barbe’s present situation and her past – more specifically how her arranged marriage to the progressive but unstable François (The Sandman’s scene-chewing Tom Sturridge) blossomed into love, and surprising equality in all things.

Widow Clicquot has a fine line to walk, because Barbe speaks multiple times about continuing François’s vision, yet obviously it’s problematic if the film’s title character – one of history’s most accomplished businesswomen – is motivated entirely by a man. Fortunately there’s the casting of Bennett to bound over this pitfall. Delivering much the same nuance as Emma D’Arcy in House of the Dragon, Bennett’s Barbe is a youthful but commanding presence, moving with fluidity between sensitivity and steely resolve. Barbe wants to advance François’s work, but is also motivated by guilt over his death, as well as her own professional ambitions and personal desires (especially where Sam Riley’s charismatic wine merchant is concerned).

Barbe appears in Widow Clicquot as a rule-breaker and pioneer, hands on in the field, respected for her winemaking innovations, and demonstrating the business acumen that her husband lacked. She even implements a non-hierarchal leadership style based on listening and collaboration, although the forward-thinking “wheel” concept in the film is hard to gauge as something real, or an invention of the screenwriters to hook today’s viewers.

Distinguishing fact from fiction is difficult because Widow Cliquot is stuffed with all the narrative beats you would expect: an early devastating frost; jealous male rivals initiating a legal challenge; successes that turns swiftly into setbacks. The trailer gives them all away, though not in the order they actually follow in the film. This familiarity of elements is less a problem though than the way they are strung together, typically as fragmented snapshots.

At times, Widow Cliquot feels like a series of YouTube Shorts. In one scene, Barbe breaks down over sending her young daughter away, and the next she’s cheerfully sampling grapes with workers in the field, only for her child to never feature again. Bennett holds it all together, although the disjointed progression results in some sadly skimmed topics, like a deeper exploration of the champagne making processes Barbe invented.

Widow Clicquot is still fascinating, and it may even send audience members down a Wiki rabbit hole. However, in the end it feels a bit “light.” It’s easy to consume, delivering the same pep as a glass of sparkling wine in the moment, but the pleasure is superficial, with the full-bodied experience only intermittently sampled.

Widow Clicquot is in select cinemas now, having released in South Africa on 9 August.