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People love movies almost as much as they love wine. Quite a few good movies have been made about wine; among them Bottle Shock, Sideways, A Good Year, and Somm. Wine often pops up in many other, non-wine themed movies as well. While you contemplate your next food and wine pairing for an upcoming movie night, consider screening some of these famous flicks featuring memorable and slightly offbeat wine moments. Hamlet Certainly the longest, if not greatest, film rendition of Hamlet is the 1996 version directed by Kenneth Branagh (who also plays the title role), featuring the uncut text of Shakespeare’s play. The timeless drama of murder, betrayal, and existential anguish builds to a climactic fencing match that is arranged by Hamlet’s rival Laertes and uncle King Claudius to be fatal to Hamlet by means of a poisoned sword. But Claudius goes too far when, as a backup plan, he slips a poisoned pearl into a goblet of wine meant for Hamlet. During the fast-paced swordfight, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude, ignorant of the poison, drinks a toast to her son from the poisoned chalice and, soon, the scene is littered with bodies in one of the most dramatic and tragic ends of any play or film. Jaws Which wine goes best with unsuspecting beachgoer? No, not that! Remember instead that wonderfully humorous scene where a haggard Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) takes a bottle of red wine brought over to his house for dinner by young oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), uncorks it, and pours most of the wine into a tumbler half-filled with, apparently, ice water. This moment makes wine lovers wince every time, but it certainly does let the audience know exactly how Chief Brody’s day went: lousy! All That Jazz Roy Scheider is at it again in this compelling, hard-hitting portrayal of entertainer extraordinaire Joe “It’s showtime, folks!” Gideon, a character based on the life of the film’s director, Bob Fosse. Joe engages in far too much drinking and smoking for his own good while trying to maintain control of his overbooked schedule and multiple personal relationships. His favorite tipple is white wine, which he seems to consume by the bottle—at one point, Joe pours yet even more wine for himself into a tall tumbler and drinks it right down. And that’s when Joe isn’t drinking it straight out of the bottle while partying in his hospital room after open heart surgery! Imbibing wine in this excessive fashion is definitely not recommended, but this darkly entertaining movie is, along with a much more moderate serving of your favorite vino. Silence of the Lambs Everybody’s favorite gourmet serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) always sends a shiver up moviegoers’ spines when he tells FBI agent trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) how he once sent a census-taker off to a dreadful fate while enjoying the man’s liver “with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” This simply won’t do at all! In truth, you shouldn’t pair Chianti with liver; you want to serve a more robust wine such as Amarone della Valpolicella, which was the wine Lecter mentioned in the original novel by Thomas Harris. Certainly, your next food and wine pairing will be far more appropriate. Meanwhile, pair a great bottle of vino with a terrific movie tonight!
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