Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Film myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Champagne has always been associated with romance, but who knew that the stories behind the sparkle could be so tempestuous? Thomas Napper’s Widow Clicquot is a fictionalised portrait of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot (1777-1866), the woman behind one of France’s most prestigious and venerable labels. Played by Haley Bennett, Madame C is seen both during her marriage and after the death of her tormented husband François (Tom Sturridge) — which makes for a striking alternation of white linen and black widow’s weeds as the film, scripted by Erin Dignam, zigzags through her career.Young Barbe-Nicole quickly picks up François’s visionary insight into the alchemy of champagne; it seems you have to sing to the vines. She also shows a talent for branding (she places a ribbon on an early vintage, deciding it needs “something subtle but smart. Confident”) and proves a pioneer in the mantras of management philosophy (“Try again. Think differently. Work on what’s in front of us”).According to this telling, she also lived a stormy life: François is a darkly dashing Byronic soul with more than a slight attachment to his wine merchant (played with rakishly purring ambivalence by Sam Riley).At the centre is a stately but opaque performance by American lead Bennett, who intones her lines with a languid English accent and maintains decorous detachment throughout: Barbe-Nicole is seen inspecting her vines as if idly dropping in at the Chelsea Flower Show.But the film has undeniable visual elegance, recalling the more severe strain of European costume drama. Indeed, it is photographed by eminent French cinematographer Caroline Champetier who, in a chiaroscuro sex scene, lights Bennett to perfectly resemble an Ingres nude. Bryce Dessner, from rock band The National, also contributes an austere score mixing spare strings and a convent-like choir. Overall, though, Widow Clicquot is distinctly lacking in verve.★★☆☆☆In UK cinemas from August 23
