A Good Year
Provence & London - 2006
Always pleased to be asked to work again on a Ridley Scott film, and with Russell Crowe as the film's lead I of course eagerly agreed to work on this one. The film was based on a book by Peter Mayle who had made his literary name with, ‘A Year in Provence’ and the Luberon his home. The French locations were filmed at; Mènerbes, Bonnieux, and Gordes in Vaucluse, and the railway station in Avignon and London locations included Albion Riverside in Battersea, Broadgate, the Bluebird Cafe on the Kings Road in Chelsea, and Criterion Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus.
I'm from Yorkshire and that English County is blessed with swathes of verdant open space spliced by drystone walls, but there was something quite tranquil about the fields of the Luberon dressed with lavender scattered amongst the vineyards all bathed in a warm wash of sun light. I had to remind myself this was work as it felt anything but.
The only mild diva type 'strop' I witnessed was one day when Russell refused to come on set as he was not happy with the hat that wardrobe had presented him with. Production effectively hit the buffers as wardrobe scurried off to Avignon to buy up any and every Panama hat they could locate to present to Russell. These events are often not about a hat but sometimes have to do with a script disagreement or simply a show of strength of who is the star/boss. After a couple of hours a hat that agreed with Crowe's crown was found and filming cranked up again.
Lunch was an event in itself, I think French location caterers are the only ones who have lunch served to your table as if in a restaurant. Most crew catering is a scramble to get in the snaking food queue to have a polystyrene plate or container loaded with your choice from the catering truck. The French caterers did it in style with waiters coming to the table asking what starter you wanted and what main course, and then bringing to the table. It's a very sociable event, like a great family picnic, and while you might find salt, pepper and a bottle of brown sauce on the typical British catering table each of ours had two bottles of the local red wine. Unheard of and quite possibly illegal in Britain, but everyone cautiously and sensibly drank a few shots, don't think I have ever seen alcohol served to crew like this, you have to admire the French for such civility?
Location shoots are invariably six day weeks due to the expense of having a crew in hotels but Russell's star power could command the demand of a five day week – great! So now end of the shooting week was a conventional Friday and back at unit base a barbecue greeted the crew as they walked off the grounds of the Chateaux La Canorgue, the main location. We all enjoyed a burger, beer and of course more local wine as the last rays of another sunset was strained from the sky; even Ridley stayed for a quick bite before retreating to edit the weeks work.
I thought this was a thoughtful touch for the studio to arrange such an event, as music played from Russell's trailer, but asking the two Australian girls who were wrangling sausages and burgers on the Barbie they explained, no it was not the studio but was Russell who had organised and paid for the Friday night soiree. Probably the nearest I would ever get to dining with the stars; unfortunately I'm vegetarian but politely nibbled at the bun...
Ridley and novelist Peter Mayle had worked together in television advertising over thirty years previously and both own vineyards in the Luberon region of Provence. Ridley had bought a former military hospital, which came with a recently replanted vineyard growing syrah grapes. He now produces some 55,000 bottles of wine sold under the label Mas Des Infermières at the nearby Cave de Lumiere. Publicist Ernie Malik had arranged for us to visit Peter at his Chateau near to Mènerbes and we drove there to interview him one afternoon before the start of a night shoot. Before we got anywhere near starting the interview Peter's wife had whipped the cork out of a crisp white wine and presented us with some canapés, Peter joked (maybe it was true) that he even drank wine for breakfast. Ernie, Peter and myself demolished a couple of bottles before it was suggested we really should do the interview. We then had to pack up drive back to the location for a night shoot!
Russell was in a confident and relaxed mood throughout the shoot, with his Oscar for Gladiator still no doubt gleaming on his mantelpiece and his new son to keep him occupied he never played up his superstar status. The unit had now relocated temporarily to the nearby the village of Mènerbes, considered one of the finest in the Luberon and built on a hill it provided me with great vista shots of the area. Russell was happy to sit out in the cobbled streets of Mènerbes between takes with his young son on his lap, warmly greeting the odd tourist who recognised him, exchanging small talk and accepting compliments. I was impressed as had rarely seen someone so at the top of his game be so open and affable.
I think he did give Ridley a bit of a hard time though with periodic suggestions about directing scenes, something I doubt Ridley had ever heard or tolerated before. The theory running through the crew was that Russell eventually wanted to direct a movie so was just thinking out loud, and Ridley gritted his experienced teeth and went with it. It can't have soured their relationship as he went on to work with Russell again in American Gangster and Robin Hood.
The film included a flashback sequence to see the younger version of Russell Crowe's character played by Freddie Highmore and his Uncle played by Albert Finney. I'd met Freddie previously on Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and he was now a stretched version of Charlie Bucket. Having grown in stature he remained a Giacometti figure of rake thin arms and legs but non the less charming. It was a pleasure to meet Albert Finney as I had admired his screen presence way back to the classic British film, “Saturday Night & Sunday Morning” directed by the Czech-born film maker Karel Reisz¹. You never know what to expect when meeting actors you admire, they seem so familiar because of their screen legacy and I would say on the whole it best not to meet those you enjoy watching on screen as it's difficult to erase the high definition up-close reality the next time you see a movie they are in. Albert Finney however did not disappoint, a large avuncular man with a gravel carved voice who clearly commanded the copious space he occupied. When I first greeted him I called him Mr Finney but he graciously brushed the formality aside and replied, “Oh, call me Albert!”
One of my trips out to France spanned the weekend, in reality a couple of days paid holiday thanks to Russell Crowe's five day shoot edict. The hotel I was booked into was a small friendly family run hotel, L'Auberge de Luberon, in the village of Apt on the outskirts of Avignon. I prefer accommodation like this despite limitations, for instance the 'business centre' consisted of the office computer for checking emails. I can however see why Brits like retiring to the south of France as it's as warm and welcoming as the people. The biggest of all the Saturday markets in the Luberon is in Apt and has been trading every Saturday for the last 900 years, so the locals tell me. It sprawls and swirls through several ally ways and squares loaded with local cheese, fruit and cured sausage as well as the usual tourist fare. It winds up about midday and perfectly times with a light lunch of a Provençal omelette lubricated with a carafe of the local grapes.
Russell had booked the local Theatre to perform a 'concert' with his Australian band on the Sunday evening and had asked me to video the event. Well, as it was my day off I asked to be paid 300 euros cash in hand and this was agreed. I set up at the back of the theatre to make sure I could cover the whole stage and waited in anticipation of this unique event to begin. What ensued was a tortuous racket of self-indulgence analogous to a bunch of people gripping instruments while falling down a staircase as a bloke wailed folk rock lyrics strained through a bag of coal. I have a feeling Russell's hobby band would in my opinion barely disturb the music business. I never saw the 300-euro payday but decided it probably unwise to pursue it with Russell, as the rest of the shoot had been such an agreeable well-paid holiday.
Production Budget $35 million
Worldwide Box Office $42 million