"A Good Year" directed by Ridley Scott [review]

Abstract

When I heard that one of my favourite directors of all time, English filmmaker Ridley Scott, was making a romantic comedy, I could scarcely believe it. This is the man who, over the years, has brought us spectacular cinematic experiences like Gladiator, Alien, Bladerunner, and Legend, none of which are particularly comedic, and all of which stand as beautifully-crafted films whose most striking characteristic is the extraordinary Ridley Scott visual style that overlays their every frame. Scott’s cinematographic stamp, a gorgeous aesthetic sheen that has influenced a generation of video-clip directors and advertising executives, has been much-imitated by other filmmakers but has, in my opinion, never been surpassed. Scott’s visual style is a compelling trademark indeed, but it seems less suited to intimate human dramas than it is to action films, period spectacles and fantasies.