By William Kustiono
“You Will Be My Son” (Tu Seras Mon Fils) is a French film directed by Gilles Legrant. Legrant is famous for his works such as Micmacs, Micmacs – Au Four Et Au Moulin, and Malabar Princess. This movie depicts an ambitious and passionate winemaker who decides to hand all of his wealth to the manager’s son.
Paul de Marseul (Niels Arestrup), a wealthy and passionate winemaker is unsatisfied with the future prospect of his son, Martin (Lorant Deutsch), who is heir to his vineyard. Paul is very ambitious; he fantasizes a perfect heir to inherit his vineyard. Paul’s estate manager, Francois (Patrick Chesnais), is diagnosed with an illness and his son, Philip (Nicolas Bridet), a winemaker as well, returns from California. Philip catches Paul’s attention when he displays a great knowledge about winemaking. As they begin to acknowledge each other and grow fond together, Paul starts seeing Philip as his ideal heir to his vineyard and turns away his own flesh and blood.
“You Will Be My Son” stars several great actors such as Niels Arestrup (A Prophet, War Horse, The Diving Bell and Butterfy, and The Beat That My Heart Skipped), Lorant Deutsch (Asterix and the Vikings), Patrick Chesnais (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Anne Marvin (Welcome to the Sticks and Little White Lies), and Nicolas Bridet (Mr. Bean Holiday and The Light).
In the movie, there are several great scenes that really captivate the audience. The breathtaking sceneries include the beauty of Paul’s estate, the wine collections in the vineyard, and the characterization within the movie. Paul’s estate is a tremendous building with beautiful details; Martin enjoys taking an hour off every day to jog around the estate. His wine collection is perfectly placed in a cellar. There is no scene that allows the audience to view the entire collection, but the movie gives an impression that Paul is a great wine collector in the movie.
Paul is as an ambitious and competitive person; he does not want to hand his vineyard to his son who knows nothing about winemaking.
Martin is as a loyal and diligent person; as well as open-minded, someone who is willing to sit and stay in the office to follow his father’s teaching. Although he lacks knowledge about winemaking, he keeps pushing himself to the limit to only his wife, Alice (Anne Marivin), acknowledges him.
Philip is the son of Francois, Paul’s estate manager. He is a winemaking prodigy and an expert in vineyard. He possesses a knowledge that could potentially surpass Paul. Philip is not as ambitious as Paul, but takes care of the vineyard because he is simply returning the favor of Paul’s kindness towards his father.
Alice is Martin’s loving wife. She takes care of Martin whenever he needs help and always stays beside him through any situation. She is strongly opposed to Paul’s decision in giving away his whole vineyard to Philip.
Overall, the movie offers the audience some knowledge on the importance of family members. Although Martin is not a green thumb opposed to Philip, he is still Paul’s only son. The father should nurture and train him so he could inherit the vineyard, their family business, and not give it away to another son. Family is family.
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