Watch this film for many reasons. The fact that it features a gorgeous (and still credible pre-‘Pirates’) Johnny Depp makes it quite appealing enough. But it also has a beautifully constructed plot, a magnificent ensemble cast and an atmospheric French setting. Watch it for all these reasons. But most of all, watch it for the chocolate. The edible contents of the chocolaterie steal every scene they are in.
Chocolat is constructed like a fine recipe. First we are introduced to the ingredients, beginning with the ‘store cupboard items’ as the camera pans around the church, alighting on the characters who will form its base. Here we see the stuffy Comte de Reynaud, the ineffectual Père Henri and the uptight mother, Caroline Clairmont. Then the layers are added to spice up the story as we are introduced to Vianne Rocher the chocolatière and main protagonist and Armande Voizin, the feisty old lady. And, finally, the topping, as the boats bring Roux, the ‘river rat’, creating the catalyst which will make this dish something special and turning up the heat in the process.
In this film we experience food as excitement, as a sugar-sweet subversion, causing change for the better. It is the bag of ‘unrefined cocoa nibs’ which turns the slovenly husband into a passionate lover. Chocolate allows Armande to cease being a cranky old woman and remember her inner spirit and gives Josephine Muscat the confidence to stand up to her abusive spouse. The Comte’s own transformation occurs in an orgy of chocolate (in sharp contrast to his previous abstinence). Vianne’s growing relationship with Roux is marked by her attempts to name his favourite confection and Josephine’s increasing independence is illustrated by the greater complexity of the sweets she can make. And it is the fine food which allows Armande to choose her own dignified death after the extravagant feast to celebrate her life.
Vianne’s chocolates are presented as sensual, life-affirming creations. It is her eventual understanding of the fact that, through them, she has finally become appreciated and accepted that persuades her to abandon her itinerant life and stay in the village she and the chocolaterie
have transformed.
Watch the trailer: