Sparkling: The Story of Champagne

Frank Mannion's documentary offers plenty to appreciate, even for those who don’t drink champagne.

I am told that champagne producers have been classified as essential workers during lockdown. Those who would automatically have assumed that to be the case may well be the ideal audience for this documentary which finds the well-established producer Frank Mannion turning director for the first time. He is on screen too since he is seen talking to a number of key figures from the champagne industry, that being part and parcel of a film which also features many other individual contributions. Early on a whole range of brands are introduced in turn as representatives from various houses appear and their comments include a look back on the history of this most famous of drinks. Later on the film comes up to date by pondering the changes taking place in this sphere in the 21st century.

As a first-time director, Mannion has obviously given much thought to the look and style of his film. For many, champagne remains a drink associated with the wealthy and Mannion has found an ideal photographer in Charlie Emseis whose images capture all the opulence of settings that range through France, England and America. Care has been taken too in obtaining a suitable music score from James Jones which, on occasion, yields aptly to brief extracts from the works of classical composers. Other aspects of the filming please too - adroit camera movement, footage obtained by using drones and, most importantly, editing that keeps the piece moving well. Indeed, this is a praise-worthy debut even if it is one that can’t conceal the difficulties that arise in handling the range of material inherent in treating this subject.

This weakness is most apparent in the film’s first half which in offering comments on one champagne house after another keeps up a rather too relentless barrage of miscellaneous information, something that impedes a real sense of flow and is not easy to take in fully. A brief pause involving London at night and accompanied by a Chopin nocturne without any word at all being spoken is a welcome breathing space. This part of the film works best when a clear-cut segment emerges that becomes meaningful in its own right. One such centres on Churchill’s love of Pol Roger and includes comments from his grandson Sir Nicholas Soames. Another in contrast touches on champagne’s appearances in films ranging from its debut appearance in Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (1933) to the linkage that would be established between Bollinger and James Bond. This sequence also allows the film to complete memorably a quote from Marilyn Monroe that is usually shorn of its second half.

Despite these highlights, it is not until its second half that the film really hits its stride. This comes about when it tackles clear themes which develop naturally. Thus, following a brief look at the arrival of American champagne and of Cava in Spain, substantial footage is rewardingly devoted to the 21st century growth of English sparkling wines. Initial rivalry leads in time to relatively peaceful co-existence even if there can still be arguments over the conflicting claims by the English and the French regarding origins (did fizz in sparkling wines in this country precede what was achieved by the monk Dom Pérignon in France?). Stephen Fry recites lines that could be relevant to this taken from the 1676 play The Man of Mode and then amusingly argues against the view that is being put forward here. As the film approaches its close it looks to the future and to how global warming could change the picture totally. Thereafter, Mannion, who has already shown that he is adept with montage shots, builds a climax that is a neat summation of what his movie has given us. He may not have solved the problem of making the subject fully tractable but this film should be enjoyed by audiences drawn to it.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  Vitalie Taittinger, Bruno Paillard, Oz Clarke, Nicholas Soames, Vincent Chaperon, Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, Tony Laithwaite, Don Kladstrup, Petie Kladstrup, Etienne Bizot, Gilles de la Bassetiere, Tom Stevenson, Laurent d’Harcourt, Henry Warde, Tim Warrilow, Keith Moore, Frank Mannion, Stephen Fry.

Dir Frank Mannion, Pro Frank Mannion and Oxana Popkova, Screenplay Frank Mannion, Ph Giovanni Fortunato, Oliver Simons and Taylor Stanton, Ed Charlie Emseis, Music James Jones.

Kasiyan Knockbeg Enterprises/CBS 1A1 Motion Picture Fund/Carlow Castle Films-Swipe Films.
88 mins. UK. 2021. Rel: 25 June 2021. Cert. PG.