CHOCOLAT
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: To a straight-laced French village
comes a woman with the message that life is to
be enjoyed and not simply endured. The woman
opens a chocolate shop and sows the seeds of a
belief in human potential laced with a little
self-indulgence. With five Academy Award
nominations, this American film set in France is
more a parable than a realistic story and it is
a theme that director Lasse Hallstrom has
visited before. But the film is itself, like
the chocolates it shows, a pleasure. Rating: 7
(0 to 10), low +2 (-4 to +4)
Lasse Hallstrom's new film is a parable about believing in oneself and even more on getting a little joy from life. It is a contrived story in which the good guys are a little too good and the bad guys are obvious. But its message is disarming and sweetened with tempting visions of chocolate that seduce the viewer. But it is getting a following in a time when so many of the popular films are pushing nihilism and showing violence.
In a little French village life is painted like the village itself in tones of brown and gray. Everyone knows his place and knows exactly what is expected of him. Those who forget their responsibilities are quickly reminded. Pleasure is for the most part to be deferred for the next life. Instead life is piety and submission. But in 1959, as Lent is approaching, a mysterious woman Vianne (Juliette Binoche) arrives in town with her daughter and in the shadow of the church at the beginning of Lent sets up a chocolate shop. Vianne is immediately countered by the forces of convention and of self-denial. These forces are marshalled and lead by the town's mayor the Comte de Reynard (fine comic actor Alfred Molina). Slyly Reynard affirms his number-one position by turning the townspeople against Vianne and the change she is bringing. He and Vianne are poles apart and the little French town is figuratively and nearly literally not big enough for the two of them.
At the same time some who are lower in the town's pecking order are giving in to the temptations of self-indulgence and even breaking from their established places. The respectable people of the town side with the mayor, but the marginal people, those who normally get swept aside, become friends with Vianne and find they enjoy her sweet chocolate and her easy friendship. For those in the middle, between the mayor and Vianne, there is the constant temptation of all that chocolate. One of the women who joins the circle of friends is Josephine Muscat (Lina Olin) whose brutish husband Serge (Peter Stormare, who played the quiet killer in FARGO) owns the local saloon and beats Josephine when he is drunk. Another of Vianne's circle is an old woman, Armande Voizin (Judi Dench), nearly disowned by her family.
While CHOCOLAT is not ultimately negative on religion, the alliance between the young priest and the mayor is looked on as one of the negative forces in the town. Too often the local priest takes a cold and unfriendly stance. The pleasures of chocolate are said to be evil. A dog, we are told, has no soul. But the rules of Lent still apply to the dog. The historic town hero is remembered for having turned out the Huguenots. In the end the film is a little pat, even for the parable that it is. The ending is a little contrived and not quite believable.
There seem to be two major themes in the photography (at least). One is the color in the town. It is drab grays and browns until Vianne arrives in her bright red cloak and hood. Echoing ideas of PLEASANTVILLE, though in a more subtle fashion, Vianne brings color to the village. Her shop is bright with color, while the rest of the town is muted in color. Vianne has the courage to break from the dismal color scheme and bring some life to the village. The other theme is tempting the audience with luscious photography of chocolate. Like BABETTE'S FEAST and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, this is a film that seduces the viewer with its photography of food.
CHOCOLAT is generating some controversy; it seems to be a film people either love or hate. For my part I rate it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@avaya.com
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
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