Haley Bennett is Stoically Powerful and Raw in Widow Clicquot

Ever wonder where some of your favorite bottles of champagne originated from and did you ever once think they many have been invented by a woman? Yup, the elegant bottle with the orange label, engineered by methods still used today by all champagne producers is courtesy of the “Grande Dame of Champagne” – Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin.

Based on the best-selling book The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo, Ponsardin, at the age of 20, became Madame Clicquot after marrying the heir of a prominent winemaking family. However, after her husband’s untimely death, Barbe-Nicole defied the norms of society by assuming reins of  their wine business.  Steering the company through political and financial reversals, she surprised critics and revolutionized the champagne industry becoming one of the world’s first great entrepreneurs – male or female.

Directed by Thomas Napier, Widow Clicquot mirrors the female politics of today.  In the 1800’s, women needed permission to sell property. The disrespect and disregard ran rampant as Clicquot  was literally forced to defend herself in court for violating the Napoleonic Code.  The code, established during the French Consulate in 1804,  forbad women from running a business. Yet, she overcame the petulant games of powerful men insuring her innovations revolutionized the wine industry over the next 50 years after her beloved husband’s demise.

The performances are strong and incredibly memorable.Haley Bennett is powerfully stoic and raw as the widow and her performance is only enhanced by the manic specificity from her leading man Tom Sturridge.

Audiences will walk away with wind knowledge that champagne can spoil if exposed to hear for too long or that the more intense  and prettier the grape, the more one can experience that taste of this beautifully bodied wine. As well, as spending time on issue revolving around mental illness and the lack of understanding or treatment of manic depression or schizophrenia. The costume design is tastefully simple with the widow dressed in mostly always black, white or black with white on top and the soundtrack buzzing to indicated danger lurking kee[s the audience on its toes.

Widow Clicquot is an impressively skilled tale of a woman in history who has remained hidden in the shadows until now recalling a time all too familiar with our current climate of women’s rights, appreciation and deserved credit for some our finer things in life.