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Chocolat

Movie Chocolat Director Lasse Hallstrom Producer Alan C. Blomquist Cast Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp

By Ad-Lib Simplicity is an art of filmmaking that has been lost in this day and age of high tech imagery and computer wizardry. So it comes as a refreshing change to see movies like Chocolat making respectable waves in Hollywood and the world over. To give you a mental picture of how the movie pans out, you have to picture the 1930’s conservatism, cultural antagonisms of the immediate post war years and perhaps a movie that should have had Italian dialogues. Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina) is the mayor of a small tranquil town called Lansquenet. He believes in the rule of law, (Being a historian) lessons from the past and God devoutly. So zealous is he that he even writes sermons for the local Padre Pere Henri (Hugh O``Conor), a newcomer at the job with an Elvis fixation, to make sure that the town is kept solemn. Suddenly a North Wind brings Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) and her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) to town. They ask Armande Voizin (Judi Dench) to allow them to set up shop in her old Patisserie. The Comte welcomes them to town but asks them how can they set up such a shop in month of Lent? And why won’t they come to church? They must be radicals….Atheists even! It becomes his personal crusade to rid the town of them. Vianne opens the new shop which is Choclaterie or Chocolate shop, very tempting for the public despite Lent. When a local woman is offered a chocolate delight that turns her loafer husband into a sex machine, the town slowly warms up to Vianne and Anouk. During her stay she gets to know her landlady Armande, who is a lonely diabetic, better. Also she saves Josephine Muscat (Lena Olin) from her batterer of a husband and they become the best of friends. Now this is when a bunch of river rats come to town. Though the entire town refuses to serve them in a silent bid to shoo them away, Vianne befriends them and their Leader Roux (Jhonny Depp). Friendship becomes much more as time passes. However, a fire caused by Josephine’s ex-husband almost kills her and Anouk. Vianne has enough and plans to leave town. Josephine takes the help of the townsfolk including Caroline Clairmont (Carrie-Anne-Moss), who was part of Comte’s crusade, to help in the coming Easter celebrations. This makes even the Comte break-down and eventually Vianne seeing the change in the people, stays and everybody starts loosening up a bit. The movie is presented with stories of four people, that of Vianne, Comte, Armande and Josephine. The transition from a town ruled by a near-bigot to a town of color, fun and tolerance is very sweet. Apart from this it is a cookery show. Expect your mouth to water every now and then. Johnny Depp is more of an extra and the show belongs to the lesser known faces-Judi Dench being my personal favourite. Chocolat is a must see for all who respect mature cinema. I would rate Chocolat a 7 out of 10.