You Will Be My Son

A French vineyard produces some heady conflict along with fine wine in Gilles Legrand's melodramatic but stylish film. Paul (Niels Arestrup) is the perfectionist owner of a Bordeaux winery who depends heavily on his longtime estate manager, François (Patrick Chesnais). When the latter falls ill, Paul must come to terms with the fact that he has no faith in the ability of his dutiful but uninspired son, Martin (Lorànt Deutsch), whom he trusts to keep the books but not take over the production side of the business. Instead, Paul turns to François' son Philippe (Nicolas Bridet), who has recently returned from a successful stint in California's Napa Valley. Saying that the land itself has chosen Philippe, he even suggests that he adopt the young man so that he will ultimately inherit the winery. That proposal obviously doesn't sit well with either the infuriated Martin (and his wife) or with François, who sees it as a threat to his own fatherhood. At heart this is a story of a man so obsessed with preserving his legacy that he is willing to sacrifice anyone, including his own son and his closest friend. A dark, uncompromising, and ultimately compelling tale, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)