The Year and the Vineyard (El Año y la Viña) is lovely. That’s the only way to begin this review, because it is a film that makes you feel so warm inside, you want to run through meadows shouting about its loveliness. A Spanish fantasy-comedy-romance, which blends time-travel with friendship, love and gentle, sweet humour, The Year and the Vineyard is a seventy-four minute joy.
The Year and the Vineyard is many things, and one of those things is clever. Rather than over-complicate things with masses of sci-fi exposition, the film focuses entirely on Andrea’s story. The wormhole through time is just something that simply exists, never explained, and it never needs to be. If nothing else, The Year and the Vineyard is more of a tale of unlikely friendship than it is science fiction. We have Andrea, the cynic out of his time, who is at the biggest of all crossroads. Tomas, the school teacher and hopeless romantic whose life is bettered by an Andrea who knows that time is too precious to waste. And bringing the bulk of the comedy is the Priest (Javier Sáez), soft spoken to the point of camp, wholly dedicated to his church, and annoyingly pleasant. In the mission to return Andrea home, the three will form an unlikely bond as Tomas pursues the beautiful Maria, and the Priest pursues the possibility that Andrea is a miracle sent from heaven.
Visually, The Year and the Vineyard is stunning, making use of bright, colourful Spanish countryside, contrast with the bleak destruction of war-stricken Guadalajara. The score is also winning, full of upbeat, mischievous latin guitar and horns. The only criticism that can be thrown at The Year and the Vineyard is in fact related to the music, and rather the sound mixing, as occasionally the score cuts off abruptly in a scene which can be disjointing. But it is only a minor quibble, and it will soon be forgotten as soon as the Priest starts talking again. Seriously, Javier Sáez is a comic delight to watch out for, and Jonathan Cenzual Burley is certainly a director on the rise.
Summer is here, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more pleasant film for the season. Short, funny, sweet and poignant, The Year and the Vineyard more than delivers. It will make you feel genuinely happy to be alive, and there’s little greater praise than that.
The Year and the Vineyard is out in cinemas or VOD now!