If you celebrate by drinking champagne, you have a French widow in the Napoleonic age to thank. And if you want the best, one of France’s top champagnes is Veuve Clicquot, a name that translates as “Widow Clicquot.” honoring the young widow who took over the family vineyard and winery she had run with her husband, and not only made it into one of the leading makers of the bubbly but also transforming the whole champagne industry.
WIDOW CLICQUOT is an English-language historical drama recounting the true story of that brilliant, innovative woman, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, known as “Grande Dame of Champagne,” who lived from 1777 to 1866. Haley Bennett plays Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the widow Clicquot, who not only made the Clicquot family’s champagne famous (with its distinctive yellow label) but who also invented pink champagne and created innovations that transformed the entire champagne industry itself. And all that in the time of Napoleon, when women had no rights and were forbidden to run a business – unless they were a widow continuing her husband’s business.
We first meet Barbe-Nicole as a newly widowed 28-year-old with a young daughter, as she fends off pressure from her well-meaning father-in-law Phillipe (Ben Miles) to sell the vineyard and winery to the neighboring Moet vineyard. But the widow is determined to run the vineyard and winery she and her late husband Francois (Tom Sturridge) had built together from the family business his father had turned over to him. She makes a deal with her father-in-law to let her try to run the winery and vineyard on her own for a limited amount of time, a deal he agrees to out of fondness for her but with the firm belief that no woman has the capacity to run a business, least of all this young widow.
With ground-breaking innovative ideas, the widow Clicquot tries to hold on to the dream she shared with Francois. The resourceful young widow quickly enlists the help of the talented salesman (Sam Riley) she and her husband had worked with, someone who was also a friend, to help her take the business to a new level. The gifted salesman – who traveled to sell the wine in various markets, a new idea at the time – takes the stunning new wines the widow makes straight to the top of society: the royal families of Europe.
The true story unfolds against the backdrop of the tumultuous age of Napoleon, with wars and all that followed. Director Thomas Napper’s lush period drama features all the lovely sets and costumes audiences could want, plus gorgeous visuals and a fine British cast, to complement this inspiring period biopic about one of the first women entrepreneurs in France. At a mere 90 minutes, the drama covers a lot of historical territory briskly. With the widow’s hard work, expertise with the vines and brilliant skill in experimenting with new wines, and the salesman’s tireless travel and his talent for marketing, something magical might take place – if nothing goes wrong. With weather and war as adversaries, it becomes a race between innovation and chance.
The story is full of unexpected twists and turns as the risk-taking widow determinedly improves her wine, despite setbacks and challenges of various kinds. Like most period dramas, there is a bit of romance too, in scenes that flashback to her life with Francois. Their marriage was arranged by their wine-making families but it turned into true love, and a partnership of equals, inspired by the humanist ideals of the age.
But these characters are more complex than in a standard period drama. While these flashbacks give a romantic touch, they soon turn more complex, adding a tragic dimension to this tale of one remarkable woman. Ultimately, the focus is on the accomplishments of this brilliant, determined woman more than on romance. Further both the widow and the wandering salesman are more complicated people than we might assume, while the father-in-law, fond as he is of his son’s widow, can’t escape his ideas about what women can do, something also true of the society of the time. There is plenty of risk and rule-breaking, which adds a layer of tension and suspense to the tale.
WIDOW CLIQUOT is an inspiring drama about a courageous real woman entrepreneur who faced more sexism and barriers than we could imagine yet achieved success through it all. Which deserves a toast with that bubbly wine she worked so hard to perfect.
