Mondovino
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Movie Reviews of Mondovino
Movie Review: Very Disappointing, Totally Unprofessional Movie (not a true documentary)
Summary: 2 Stars
Don't waste your time. This movie has so many flaws, its difficult to know where to begin.
First, it is painfully biased. I'm not so offended by its anti-globalist message (in fact I'm very sympathetic) as by the fact that he is so willing to distort peoples opinions and statements to achieve his goal. His constant attempt to make a caricature of every interviewee he disagrees with belies the fact that he can't substantiate his view with credible discussion. Whether it be with the accompanying music, the camera angles, the forced pauses in conversation, odd questioning or what appears to be his flagrant use of editing to achieve his goals, you walk away from the movie thinking Oliver Stone and Michael Moore are unbiased. We can argue whether or not a "documentary" should be unbiased (and I would not take that position), but this is no documentary. This is pure, unadulterated propaganda. In my mind there is a huge difference.
Second, the lack of narration or other vehicle to provide context to the interviews is both confusing and, once again, an attempt to muddle what are important and difficult issues. Similarly, the use of the hand-held camera is confusing and distracting and in my mind is symbolic of how "shaky" is own views are when put up to scrutiny.
Finally, his obsession with animals not only trivializes the interviewees, but in one scene in particular reveals his vulgar, mean-spirited and culturally biased views.
Movie Review: I didn't realize what I was buying
Summary: 2 Stars
When I bought this film, I suppose I created my own problem by purchasing it as a spur of the moment thing when I also ordered Bottle Shock. I think there was an extra link when I ordered the other movie and I just picked this up too because it was "a wine documentary".
I didn't realize it was really more of a propaganda thing with someone pushing their own point of view. I'm not going to say his point of view was wrnog, but the film is so over the top biased that it gets a little insulting. I did find parts of it interesting but as I said, it sort of loses any credibility along the way when you can see the bias in pretty much every scene. I ended up not finishing the movie because I was tired and will probably get around to watching the rest of it one day, but if I had the purchase to do over again, I would skip this one.
Movie Review: Camera work makes it hard to watch
Summary: 2 Stars
Mondovino was interesting to me as a wine buff, but as a television professional, it was hard to watch. I know that cinema vérite films are traditionally shot hand-held in an informal style, but this film was shot so poorly that you could actually get motion sickness watching it on a large screen. It literally looks like it was shot by a child with a short attention span. The shots are filled with gratuitous zooms, shaky long shots, and close-ups that are too close. The quality of the photography seriously compromised my enjoyment of the subject matter and to me makes the film seem like an amateur effort.Movie Review: Rants between naps
Summary: 2 Stars
Okay documentary. Another world could be created in the time it takes to watch it, but inspiring -- I suppose. It was a great idea gone wrong and just too many damned dogs.Movie Review: Propaganda: misleading cuts, smears, ad hominem attacks
Summary: 1 Stars
This is the ultimate hatchet job, infused with politics and anti-globalization rants, and oversimplifying complex issues. The camera work often looks like it was done by a 12-year-old. But substantively, the level of professionalism is far worse. The film seems deliberately cut to make melodramatic points and take peoples' words out of context. Anyone little becomes a hero, including folks like H. De Montille, who said he was "content" after 9-11. Then we get what can only be considered smear tactics-- things like the digression to examine the Frescobaldi fascist past. Evidently, this proves their winemaking must be bad. Your mind should turn off now. Similar investigation into de Montille's past? Uh, no. Parker gets to talk a lot about farting dogs, but he can't respond to Broadbent's unintentionally hilarious rant. If you're big, you're bad. Period. This incredibly stupid, simplistic and ultra-leftist view of wine is one of the great hatchet jobs of all time, not to mention overlong, incompetently produced and utterly tedious. A film that makes a crank like de Montille into a hero and Robert Mondavi, who risked every nickel his family had to transform California, into a corporate villain, loses its footing with its initial, childish premise. This film is on a 4th grade level--except that is insulting to 4th graders.