In the following research a major movie “Good Year” will be considered. The characters of the movie will be discussed, and both the plot and the characters will be treated from the perspective of gender theories. At the end of the research the discussion about the contents of the movie if the genders of the characters are reversed, will take place.
The movie “Good Year”, 2006 British romantic comedy film, tells a story of London banker and trader Max Skinner, played by Russel Crowe. Max is a really busy person, who makes much money and is fully devoted to his job. In the movie it is stated that Max hasn’t had vacation for many years as he believes that it can damage his career. However, once Max discovers that he has inherited a chateau and vineyard in Provence, which belonged to his uncle Henry. In his childhood Max was close with his uncle and often spent his summer holidays at Henry’s chateau, however, Max has not seen Henry for many years recently.
After Henry’s death, Max decides to renovate the property and sell it, however, he stays in Provence longer than he expected and eventually changes his mind about the property, as well as his life priorities. He discovers that at the vineyard he has inherited rare sort of wine is grown, and this wine allowed Henry be a rich person and never think about earning money.
In Provence Max meets Fanni Chenal, played by Marion Cotillard, a pretty French woman who is the owner of local restaurant and enjoys slow and careless mode of life in Provence. At first Max and Fanni do not like each other much, as Max was the cause of minor road accident in which Fanny fell of her bicycle, however, in the course of time their attitude to each other changes. Still, Fanny understands that there are no chances for serious relationship for them, as sooner or later Max will have to return to London. However, at the end of the movie Max, influenced by Fanni, decides to quit his job and move to Provence, living a quiet life of wine maker. Speaking about other important characters of the movie, they include the winemaker Francis Duflot, Henry’s extramarital daughter Christie Roberts and Max’s assistant Gemma.
As for the ideas of womanhood and manhood in the movie, we see that practically all the characters of the movie behave according to traditional gender roles. The majority of men are performing the roles which presuppose earning money and showing their leadership qualities: thus, Max works at stock exchange and is totally in charge of his life and material wellbeing. He works a lot and works hard, and earns more money than he can spend. Apart from being totally independent, he also plays a leading role at work, controlling the performance of the group of his co-workers. Henry, though having more quiet life and living in less demanding atmosphere, still receives great profits selling wine and is responsible for solving …