Too Mondo-Longo

First of all, let me say that Jonathan Nossiter's Wine Industry Documentary Mondovino is not a particularly good film. I rented it the other day, and to be honest it doesn't present its central themes or ideas in a very coherent way, plus it's probably forty-five minutes longer than it needs to be, and from a technical point of view even the camerawork is often confused and amateurish; some scenes zoom and spin about like the worst home movie you've ever seen. And I have no idea what to make of Nossiter's bizarre obsession with dogs, which appear in nearly every segment of the film for no discernible reason. All that being said, none of this means that the film doesn't give you something to think about.

As the title of the film would indicate, it's the story about the forces currently shaping the global wine industry. If you appreciate wine and all the complex things that it represents to so many people, and especially if you felt this way before Sideways, then this movie is definitely worth a rental. If not, well, you might still want to see it if you care about issues surrounding globalization.

At the heart of Mondovino is the notion that wine, like so many other things, is becoming homogenized all over the world. Despite the efforts of a few dedicated holdouts, most wine is moving toward a palatable level of standard mediocrity by the invisible forces of the globalized marketplace. In the case of the wine industry, this is being accomplished by a sort of unholy trinity comprised of (a) powerful producers who seem to care a good deal more about marketing than making wine, primarily represented in the film by Napa's famous Mondavi family; (b) wine critics like Robert Parker, who's inordinate influence upon both the industry and the consuming public is truly astounding and just a little frightening; and (c) wine consultants like Michel Rolland, who work hand-in-glove with (a) and (b) in steering traditional winemakers toward conformity in producing the types of wines that the critics tell the public they should like. This is all done for the sake of profitability and at the expense of individuality and a sense of terrior, which is a concept vital in traditional French winemaking.

The result of this globalizing process is not unique to wine, but it is particularly well-illustrated by that industry. Where once the international world of wine was one of diverse, individualistic growers and winemakers who were deeply rooted in their local regions and communities, now a New Order marches forward, emphasizing conformity for the sake of maximizing sales. This paradigm shift is perfectly encapsulated by an early scene in the film when consultant Rolland visits a wine producer in France. He insists that she employ micro-oxygenation in order to make the wine more marketable. And what is micro-oxygenation, the filmmaker asks the serene-looking wine producer after Rolland tells her she must use this technique? It instantly becomes clear that she has no idea, and Rolland obviously has no desire to explain it to her or to anyone else. He simply laughs the issue off, inferring that following his advice results in better sales; if it didn't, she would fire him. (The answer, in case anyone cares, is that micro-oxygenation is a process by which tiny oxygen bubbles are introduced into young wine, mimicking the natural aging process and allowing winemakers to produce wine quickly and profitably which artificially tastes as though it had been "properly" aged--purists debate how the process affects the quality of wine).

The result of all this is that wine, which has cultural connotations stretching back for millennia, becomes just another commodity to be mass-marketed. Industry giants buy up centuries-old vineyards to produce standard-issue wines, wines that critics tell the public they should think are great. Public tastes becomes standardized, and consultants make a living telling the few mavericks who still cling to quaint notions like terrior that they must conform or be left in the dust.

The effects of this global loss of identity and the sacrificing of any sense of individuality at the altar of consumerism are important issues to discuss. It's unfortunate that a film such as this, which makes a noble effort at addressing them, ends up being so confusingly presented and so darn long. Toward the end of the movie, just when you're thinking "geez, he's made his point, this movie could have ended twenty minutes ago" and then suddenly you realize he's now moving on to South America, at that moment you're pretty much ready to surrender to the forces of globalization just to be done with it.