Chocolat (2000) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Judi Dench, Lena Olin, John Wood, Leslie Caron, Victorie Thivisol and Johnny Depp. Screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs. Based on a novel by Joanne Harris. Music by Rachel Portman. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Rated PG-13.
Chocolat is a whimsical fairy tale that covers familiar ground about the ills of blind conformity.
This tasty little treat, while not wholly original, is a movie to savor and enjoy.
Chocolat, directed by the marvelous Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules, My Life as a Dog) is reminiscent of the magical Like Water for Chocolate, in that food is the means to unleash the hidden desires and emotions of the various protagonists.
Set in a small French village, this comic fable stars the luminous Juliette Binoche as Vianne who, with her daughter, Anouk (Victorie Thivisol), literally blows with the North Wind into the village of Lansquenet, where tranquility is prized and life has not changed for decades.
Vianne soon opens a chocolaterie that awakens hidden desires and appetites among the populace. Over time these changes are noted by the local nobleman and town mayor, the Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), who sees Vianne as a threat to his domainís strict moral code.
Any savvy filmgoer knows how all this will turn out, of course. But that should not deter you from viewing this fluffy confection.
While watching Chocolat, I was reminded of another recent movie set in France that dealt with a battle between conformity and self-expression, Quills. Of course, Chocolat is nowhere as dark or brutal as the 18th-century drama about the last days of the Marquis de Sade, but the two do follow similar tracks.
Both feature authority figures who battle fiercely to retain the status quo and link non-conformity to godlessness. Quills, of course, is Grand Guignol, while Chocolat is more French farce.
Chocolatís main shortcoming is its portrayal of the villagers. They seem more archetypes than real people: There's the sexually starved wife who uses chocolate to rekindle the passion in her marriage; the grumpy old woman (Oscar-winner Judi Dench) a pariah to her family because of her independence and outspokenness; the timid, abused wife (Lena Olin) who learns assertiveness and self-confidence; and the old man (John Wood) who works up the courage to court an elderly widow (Leslie Caron) he has loved for years from afar.
But it is the charming performance of Binoche that gives Chocolat its magic. At once, wise and mystical, she quietly works her magic on the various townsfolk through her sweet confections, guessing their favorite types of chocolate and using those as a means to awaken their apathetic spirits.
Binoche is winning, otherworldly and beautiful as the sweet sorceress.
Molina has a more difficult task, portraying a rigid, unforgiving, repressed man who ó though decent ó allows his strict moral code to create a tragedy that almost cost lives.
Dench, of course, holds the screen as the wise old woman who marches to her own drummer.
Acting honors, though, belong to Olin, who at first seems like a madwoman, but who we come to realize is so brutalized by and frightened of her husband that she cannot even think straight.
Watching her blossom as the movie progresses is expected, but she carries it off in such a grand manner that one cannot help but admire her transformation. J ohnny Depp makes an appearance as a houseboat gypsy who has a short, loving fling with Vianne, who, of course, is at first the only person in town to treat the gypsies with any humanity.
Chocolat is a flavorful excursion, an entertaining bite for the cinematic sweet tooth. It may be something you have seen before, but thereís no law stopping you from going back for seconds.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. More reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com and click on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database site: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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