Red Obsession (2013) User Reviews (11)

Shame about the audience

[dr-damien-wilson · 8/10 · 22 January 2014]

I'm a wine person.

I have consumed, studied, taught and debated the topic for almost 30 years now. I love the stuff. But... watching this film reminded me how wound up we wine-people are in our own world.

Although I found the documentary interesting and important to know, I also recognise that this film grossed less than US$10,000- at the box office. Now, I don't know what the budget was to make this film, but who in their right mind thought that this would be a good idea for a theatrical release? I'm guessing that enough people got together and convinced themselves that this would work. And secured enough funding from (almost surely) a wealthy wine-lover.

No rational film producer would ever have looked at the script and gone 'Yeah, images of French châteaux, and celebrities in the wine field will be a huge hit! Let's get Rusty to narrate and we've got it made!!!'

If you're just starting to develop an interest in wine, this should be mandatory watching. Enthusiasts already know most of the content, and will probably bemoan the lack of further detail. But if wine isn't your thing, you'll really wish you'd spent the 75 minutes on another film.

It's no longer about enjoying the wine...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 February 2015]

I was only mildly interested in watching this documentary and turned it on expecting very little. After all, I rarely ever drink French wines and just don't have much interest in them. However, I soon realized that in many ways the film isn't really about wines at all- -it's all a metaphor for the sudden and very dramatic rise in the Chinese economy and their subsequent buying power. It also, in many ways, is much like the entrance of Americans into the world economy in the 20th century--when some folks were more interested in spending their money on some hot commodity instead of what is quality. In the film, the Chinese elite seem too interested in specific famous labels as opposed to actually DRINKING the wines-- and as a result of folks stockpiling the wines and paying top dollar, the wine prices on the 'best' wines are astronomical and no one can afford to drink them! All in all, a fascinating film that really gets you to think.

Decent documentary that goes exactly where you know it will.

[face-819-933726 · 7/10 · 7 April 2014]

Solid documentary showing both the highs, and the lows of the impact a China can have on any industry, as the moods of their people shift from one object of status to another. Very fair to both sides, and this movie kept the dialog clear, and open. There are some amazing interviews that really show how much China has opened up to so many new things. We are shown very nicely how the people have come from such oppression to this relative freedom, and new levels of power, that are similar to what other countries have been through during most of the last half of the 20th century, though on a much grander scale. Slow at times, I did Enjoy the over all tale, and the lessons being taught are not heavy handed or really all that surprising. I recommend this to wine people, and world travelers alike, but there is much to be enjoyed by the average person as you get to see some sights from all over the world set in beautiful time lapsed film work. All I say is just wait till India joins the games.

This movie is not about wine, despite what you think

[jeff-cutler-ca · 10/10 · 28 January 2014]

You might think the movie is about wine but it's not. It's about the transformation of China and it uses the dusty old traditional wineries of France to highlight just what is going on. The Chinese became obsessed with fine vintage wines, in particular the Rothchild Lafite Bordeaux wines. You don't have to be a wine lover to enjoy the movie. The one quote I will always remember, that the Chinese have endured the cultural revolution which is like going to hell and coming back alive. They have endured living like peasants for decades and now that they are not, they want to live it up like a sir. The picture of China that is presented in the film is one that is super modern, trendy, and really fast paced. Money is everywhere. But this is a double edged sword, as you will find out in the movie. They could have swapped Lafite for BMW's or iPhones, but the Lafite is an excellent symbol of fine old stuffy European tradition coming head on to the Chinese economic juggernaut. This movies picks a single story to convey the seismic shift in economic pull that has happened in the last decade.

Nice Architecture, Too Few Facts

[TimMeade · 5/10 · 16 August 2013]

This is an Australian-produced doco, looking at the history of wines from Bordeaux.

It is 75 minutes long.

After 75 minutes, I was aware that they have been making wines in Bordeaux since the Romans brought the vines; that Napoleon III had the wines graded in 1855 and the grades given remain to this day; that conditions come together for a great vintage about every 20 years; that wine is bought as an investment; that Americans have stopped buying it but the Chinese now do; that some French are sniffily xenophobic about dealing with the Chinese and that if the Chinese ever stop buying, the market may collapse.

Those facts took 75 minutes to explain. 75 very long minutes.

Some nice aerial photography. And looking at beautifully designed and constructed French chateaux is always easy on the eye.

The film had a nice, laconic commentary from Russell Crowe whose smoky, tobacco-enhanced voice fitted the subject well.

But it was all just too superficial, too under-researched with not enough of interest to fill the film's time span. Some more history would have been welcome; the Great French Wine Blight of the late 1850s post-dated Napoleon III's gradings – didn't the blight make them obsolete? This question wasn't addressed but would seem fundamental to an evaluation of Bordeaux. Still, I'm sure had I gone to France's bucolic beauty spots to research such a film, I too would have been so distracted drinking the stuff I'd have forgotten the reason for the visit.

To be seen while sipping red wine

[nando1301-1 · 9/10 · 11 December 2013]

This is a documentary for wine lovers. Beer drinkers need not apply.

The film is tastefully done, great photography, beautiful soundtrack. Needs to be watched with a glass of red wine in hand, as it really whets your appetite.

Should it go deeper into the subject? Should it explain that the great French Wine Blight did NOT make the 1855 classification obsolete, because the vines were grafted to Chilean roots (resistant to the phylloxera) imported hastily in thousands, to save them (not only in France, but in other parts of Europe too)?

Maybe. That would have made for a slightly longer film, perhaps more thrilling (Will the vines be completely lost? Who could save them? Wait! Up in the sky: it's a bird... it's a plane... No, it's super-vine! Actually, it was "la super viña", from Chile).

But it would have been a different film, missing the elegant balance of this one.

Perhaps this film's success will spur a sequel: "Red Obsession 2 - Attack of the insects from Hell". It will need a different soundtrack (by Hans Zimmer?) and a different narrator; Russell Crowe is too mellow for that!

A monumental cliché without substance

[nmlal68 · 2/10 · 3 June 2014]

I like to enjoy a decent wine. I don't drink a Château Latour or a Château Lafite Rothschield simply because I can't afford them, but If I could, I believe I would once in a while delight myself with such an exquisite occupation. It is strange however, after watching this movie, that my sympathy and respect for red wine didn't increase. In fact, it decreased for a moment.

This documentary is totally hollow. You squeeze it and nothing comes out. You learn virtually nothing about nothing and you are fed with the usual clichés and prejudices about the new economic giant known as China, its people and the globalized world.

The cinematography is also one of the most boring I remember to have witnessed in years. This incipient self-centered director, insists in punching you over and over, again and again, with bird views of French chateaus and never ending vineyards, intercalated with interviews so empty, so senseless, so snobbish, that you start to feel a certain discomfort, even disgust.

Everything tastes very thin, very superficial, very made out of plastic, unlike the Bordeaux wines that deserved a much serious and better documented approach.

The only positive note about this waste of time was the narrator's voice, lent by Russel Crowe.

Amazing!!!

[rattio18 · 10/10 · 12 March 2014]

I was expecting to see a cliché movie, but instead I was overwhelmed. This movie shows exactly what is going on with a cohort of Chinese society. This movie worth it. Antropologically talking, this movie is a must if you want to understand what's going on here. Listen carefully the mix blood woman, she just put in worth my thoughts. Been in China is not the same as seeing China, we have to learn a lot about this country. I just write down everything she said. I think is the key to begging to understand China and Chinese people. AWESOME!!! What we think is right, for others maybe is wrong or even unacceptable, tolerance is the key.

"Red Obsession" turns out mostly shallow and pretentious.

[dylansgabriel · 3/10 · 4 May 2014]

"Red Obsession" makes the viewer appreciate the true artistry involved in wine making, and the asomatous beauty involved in wine tasting (ordering wine at the Olive Garden is not wine tasting.) Drinking a good wine can be an orgasmic physical experience, as well as a genuinely spiritual one. Some of the interviewed eloquently describe an exquisite wine as an enduring experience.

The scenic views of French countryside and century-old vineyards are astounding. "Red Obsession" has some of the most spectacular cinematography this reviewer has ever seen. This alone is a very good reason to watch.

The film eventually moves into the current politics of the luxury wine industry. The epicentre of this business is currently China, which is now the largest importer of Bordeaux wines in the world. The rest of the film can be summarized in a sentence spoken by one of the commentators: "When the Chinese buy the wine, they buy the wine as a symbol of their status." The film's content, which includes exploration of the shifting market, and the changing production and consumption of premier château wines, was very informative and interesting to this uncultivated viewer. But the film is as untroubled as the well-off Chinese in it, who think nothing of dropping tens of millions of dollars buying wines, creating connoisseur clubs, or purchasing antiquated French chateaus.

Overflowing with conceit and extravagance, "Red Obsession" turns out mostly shallow and pretentious. The film doesn't ask any questions, or challenge conventional thinking, or break any new ground. Yes it is a documentary, but it is not constructive filmmaking.

screenplayisles.blogspot

HEY! What About Napa??

[GeoPierpont · 5/10 · 24 April 2015]

Getting rather aggravated with these nouveau riche Chinese folks who think they are going to show up the world. Well, who would be proud to have ANYTHING that says MADE IN CHINA?? Complete embarrassment and they only have to purchase another countries goods to feel proud. Shameful.

Appreciating the whole USA California Napa wine growing region recognized in the 1970's as superior to French wines does not seem to impress our fellow hoarders. However, Appellation Chinoise receives the coveted designation and highest awards with Parker in tow with their vineyards, but who believes this was not bought and sold? If a stellar vintage occurs every 20 years but suddenly it happens overnight in China? OK folks let talk bridge sales.

I appreciated the delightful cinematography of the French wine regions and their respective histories. I am spoiled by having a touch of access to superb Napa wine selections and decided that craft beers are a more satisfying and affordable experience.

Hence, I recommend for French wine enthusiasts and the roller derby that China brings to the table. Russel Crowe is the definitive narrator.

Does enough to be an average documentary, but could've been more

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 5/10 · 31 January 2021]

It's technically not bad... I just get frustrated when documentaries seem to stumble into really fascinating territory and then quickly back out to go back to what they (likely) planned.

Exploring what drives people to bid money on things like super expensive wine (some of whom admit they don't even drink it!) is potentially really fascinating. Is it appealing like gambling? Is it selfish? It is an empty display of wealth that, upon reflection, such auction participants would feel guilt about?

And the notion of fraudulent luxury goods? Genuinely fascinating! Questions about whether not knowing the difference means the real things are meaningless, whether you can be happy with fakes, whether it turns people off even trying to get the genuine things...

But nah. The documentary is solid but entirely too straightforward to be more than sporadically (maybe even unintentionally) interesting in an intense way for more than a few moments here or there.

Oh well.