(LITERAL) EDIT: Now with the correct, edited video above! I accidentally published this with the raw, unedited video originally. Mea culpa.
Anton Yelchin was only 27 years old when he passed away unexpectedly (due to a freak accident which we cover in the episode, so listen if you’re unaware of the story.) I had known and worked with Anton in the year leading up to the event, so it was always difficult to watch the films released posthumously.
But this year marks the 10th anniversary of his death day, and I decided that was enough time. I’d always been curious about these final films of his, so we decided to choose one for the podcast. Naturally, being a Portuguese wine sales rep + having just visted the city of Porto in Northern Portugal back in March + having just covered our first work of Portuguese cinema with ANIKI-BOBO (1942), the film PORTO (2017) by gab Klinger and starrubg Anton and French actress Lucie Lucas was the no-brainer.
Logline: Porto, taking place in a dreamy, remembered version of the gorgeous Portuguese city, stars Anton Yelchin as Jake, an American abroad who crosses paths with Mati (played by Lucie Lucas), a beautiful Frenchwoman also somewhat stranded and vulnerable to coincidence and romantic pull. A relationship flares up, but it’s one complicated by time itself: the film is shot on film in multiple formats (Super 8, 16 mm, and 35 mm), each one used to embody a span of time in the life of the couple before, during and after their one day rendezvous and ardor.
In the podcast, we cover the making of the film, then break it down into 3 Acts and discuss our thoughts after each Act alongside our wine pairing thoughts and how they evolved as the movie evolved.
With a few detours into the distinction between Love and Obsession:
HIGHLIGHT CLIP - “Love: Purely Subjective or Do We Misuse the Word?”
The Wines
2022 Bojador Vinho de Talha Branco, Alentejo, Portugal
As a crucial scene in the movie takes place at an archeological dig site, I though to thematically pair it with an ultra-traditional style of Portuguese wine that uses the “Talha” (tahl-ya) clay vessel, the shattered remains of which are often found at and associated with acient winemaking sites.
Traditional to the Alentejo in Southern Portugal, a hot and flat area that tens to make riper, “hotter” wines, the Talha method tends to produce lighter, more nuanced expressions of the terroir. Bojador is the side passion project of Pedro Ribeiro, one of the winemakers at Herdade de Rocim, one of the largest wineries in the Alentejo. But Bojaodr is all Pedro’s.
His Talha wines are aged in the ceramic Talhas on the seeds, stems, and skins, punched down 3 times per day for 4 months straight, then bottled. This process lends the wines additional tannin, light “green” vegetal notes, and the ceramic vessel a stoney minerality undergirding it all. The punchdowns over the course of 4 months also gives the wines a slight oxidative note on the backend (as the wine is continually exposed 3x per day). The Tinto (or red) version has this briny black olive tang, and the Branco (or white) has a slight sherry undertone.
PORTO is a challenging movie in terms of content, but it glides easily from scene to scene, jumping time and place without holding your hand but also never belaboring it. It’s an engrossing, frictionless watch in that sense, and so I most recommend the Branco/white version of the Bojador Talha. Complex, challenging, but smooth texture and nuanced vs. intense.
Alternate Way to Approach This Pairing
Drink Live You’re Falling in Love! But in the order the movie presents it: first the pain and the misery, then the love. 1 Glass where you’ve made the wine something less good. Then 1-2 glasses where it’s the ideal.
2010 Jose Maria de Fonseca “Alambre” Moscatel de Setubal, Portugal
Aka Muscat of Alexandria, but everyone in wine has to claim shit as their own so here it’s Moscatel de Setubal. Remeber: wine is only complex because it has to be. 🙄
The style was believed to have been invented by José Maria da Fonseca, the founder of José Maria da Fonseca, the oldest industrial-scale table wine producer in Portugal dating back to 1834. J.M. Fonseca company still holds a quasi-monopoly control over the production of Moscatel de Setúbal today.
Similar to Port, these are fortified, sweet wines that are barrel aged, and can come in both “vintage” bottlings of a single year or NV (non-vintage) mixtures of years. At 5-6 years of age they’ll be fresher and fruitier, while older bottlings will begin to develop notes of raisin, caramel, toffee, etc.
Dallas was initially unsure of what to pair with this film. Should he pair with the mood of the backdrop, setting? The moodiness of the female lead? The quiet insanity of the male lead? Or perhaps something referential that mimics the flashback heavy device used in the film?
In the end, we opted for something sweet, savory, and that would have you drunk enough to ignore the narrative shortcomings after 2 glasses!
And there you have it, PORTO (2017) by Gabe Klinger, starring Anton Yelchin (RIP) and Lucie Lucas. Paired with Bojador Vinho de Talha and Fonseca Moscatel de Setubal. Give the full episode a listen either here on Substack or on your podcast platform of choice.
And we both truly enjoyed watching this movie, even though we had oodles of criticisms for it, the experience was actually almost entirely positive. It’s streaming on Tubi here in the States. See if you can find it for yourself on streaming. And Kino Lorber has it on Blu ray.
