Max's Motto

I enjoyed watching Ridley Scott's film, 'A Good Year'. The protagonist in the movie is Max Skinner (played by Russell Crowe). The guy is a banker and starts off with the motto, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." As a kid, he cheats his uncle Henry in a game of chess for a checkmate. And gets all fussy losing a game of cricket or even tennis. Uncle Henry tells him, “You'll come to see that a man learns nothing from winning. The act of losing, however, can elicit great wisdom. Not least of which is, uh... how much more enjoyable it is to win. It's inevitable to lose now and again. The trick is not to make a habit of it."

I think that was quite a fair advice. What I liked about the film 'A Good Year' was just how beautifully it teaches one about the simple pleasures of life. So, you have a guy like Maximilian who thinks that a holiday is worse than death. About himself he says, “I am a banker. I have no imagination.” He doesn't take weekends. And all he ever does is make money. So, when he bequeaths dead Uncle Henry's large estate in France, all he can think about is selling. Even though he has memories attached with the house that were not just good, they were grand.

I also loved the scenery of France as shown in this film by Ridley Scott. I have always wanted to be somewhere like that. And the estate shown in the film happens to be located in a vineyard. The wine of which doesn't quite go down Max's throat very well. He finds that the label of 'poison' should be attached on the bottles there. But I think that the fact that Max could never appreciate the wine there is more metaphorical. Because, when the illegitimate daughter of Uncle Henry Christie tastes it, she finds the wine perfectly fine. As do the estate up-keepers Monsieur and Madame Duflot. When Max tells his girlfriend Chanel, “This place does not suit my life.” Chanel tells him, “No Max, it is your life that does not suit this place.” While Max is the callous, distrusting and shrewd London banker with only an eye for money, Christie and the Duflots are more like the place. Christie speaking to Max says, “If this place meant as much to him (Uncle Henry) as I believe it did, you're worse than I thought for even *thinking* about selling it...” But as Max explores the estate, he can't but be redrawn into the memory lanes of his childhood. A childhood that he spent with Uncle Henry whom he tells Chanel that he loved very deeply but never quite got around to telling him that. And when his work colleague Gemma (A.K.A. Jasminder) asks when was the last time he talked to Uncle Henry, his answer is: "Ten years ago, the time around when I became an ass**** and never contacted him since.”

Towards, the end of the film though, he decides to keep the property to himself and his cousin Christie Roberts. Marries Chanel there. Settles down in France and looks forward to a life of peace and harmony. And when his lawyer warns him that he will accomplish nothing great living this way, he replies, "we will see about that."

And looking at Max's happiness that he finds at last, one is sure that he will have good things to look forward to.