Chocolat

Rating:
Summary: Sensual pleasures abound
Review: A movie like this is all about the senses. Sight, sound, smell and especially taste. Chocolat is used as a metaphor for everyone's guilty pleasures. At first, everyone in the village appears to have a normal, happy life. But we soon discover that things are not always what they appear to be. The happiness is just a cover-up for what greater problems lie underneath. Chocolat comes into the village and uncovers the real problems with the inhabitants. Some of the subtlties in the movie aren't so subtle. All the townspeople wearing plain, muted colored clothing. Then Vianne and her daughter enter the village wearing bright red cloaks. Vianne is always wearing a red-colored outfit, marking her as different from the townspeople as possible. And her opening up a chocolatier during Lent and tempting the otherwise steadfast followers of the mayor and priest only exagerates the tension between them. The actors give good performances but the best is by Alfred Molina as the mayor. His wife has left him but he refuses to admit to it. So instead he attempts to control everyone else in town. But Vianne enters and threatens his control. He fears losing them as he did his wife. In the end we are to embrace one another for what we have to offer and not what lack. It's a basic moral to the story, told simply enough that even younger children could understand what the movie is trying to say.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolat
Review: Excellent!!!! I really enjoyed this movie, and without eating one drop of Chocolate I gained ten pounds.I can't wait to purchase it to add to my collection.

Rating:
Summary: pleasant enough...but why so many changes?
Review: This was a pleasant enough movie, fairly lightweight and inoffensive, but I found my enjoyment somewhat spoiled by the number of changes the film-makers had made from the book.

I am not a die-hard advocate of faithful adaptations but I found many of the changes odd and off-putting. I am sure many people came to watch the film having read the book so it seems strange that it should be so different.

Firstly the novel is set, more or less, in the present day. The movie is quite clearly set in 1959. Where did that decision come from? Perhaps it was a case of preferred set and costume design which, to be fair, were among the film's strong points.

Also, in the book the heroine is up against the local priest which unlocks a myriad of interesting church vs chocolate issues. In the movie they change the 'enemy' to the local mayor. Presumably to avoid any complaints on religious grounds.

Two quite major points there which, I am sure, would have rung false to any fans of the book watching Chocolat for the first time. But if that wasn't enough the movie is littered with numerous and quite pointless alterations. The Johnny Depp character is French in the book, Irish in the movie. The book contains a moving section concerning the death of Guillaime's dog, the movie keeps the dog alive. In the book the heroine has a more direct involvement in the death of Armande, the movie keeps her hands clean of any such deed. The book uncovers dark links between the burning of the boats and a deed from decades earlier, the movie never mentions this. And, typical of Hollywood, they change the ending.

As a movie in its own right Chocolat is pleasant fare. Not up to the standards of the director's previous films such as My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape or Cider House Rules but harmless fun and good entertainment. However, when you adapt a much loved book and make so many changes you take the risk of alienating your potential audience and I think the unnecessary changes the film-makers made here stopped the film from being a classic or truly moving piece.

The DVD has a reasonable amount of extras which are interesting to view after watching the movie but nothing which makes the DVD indispensable.

Worth one watch but not one for the collection.

Rating:
Summary: Romantic and engaging
Review: The set, costume and location for this movie leave you yearning for a trip to Europe! The details are a delight to the senses and the characters are warm and believable. I found the conflict of the plot to end in a "moral of the story" kind of way as Vianne (Binoche) arrives in a pious town as a single mother with a mystical past, looking to set up shop. Seen as the enemy with her chocolate delights guaranteed to "awaken the passion", she ultimately teaches the people of the town the true meaning of Christianity.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolat - The Movie - by Cocoa Channel, the Chocolate Maven
Review: I loved this movie. Need I say anymore?

by Cocoa Channel, the Chocolate Maven, from ChocolateManiacs.com

Rating:
Summary: Empty calories
Review: Of all the free spirit liberal rebel vs. hidebound conservative straw dog movies that Hollywood has churned out in the past decade, this is without doubt the most shameless. Director Lasse Hallstrom has fallen a long way from his "My Life as a Dog" triumph and has now been typecast as the guy to call when you need a heart-string tugging period piece.

Here the setting and period is an uptight French village in 1959. Vianne Rochon (Juliette Binoche) comes to town to melt their frozen hearts with gourmet chocolates it would have taken a small army to make. She meets a predictable array of allies and enemies before a predictable crisis is raised and resolved.

So what's worth sampling here? I liked the chemistry between Binoche and Johnny Depp, who played a gypsy troubadour. I also liked that the villian Reynaud (Alfred Molina) was more than a one-dimensional lout.

All in all, the film is sort of like a cartoon for grown-ups.

The film I think was hurt more than helped by the oscar nominiation for best picture. It never stood a chance of winning, yet took heat from everyone whose favorite didn't get the nod.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolat a Delightful Confection
Review: Today I watched the film Chocolat, what a wonderful experience .Finally a movie where the characters tell the story.

Rating:
Summary: Another anti-"Catholic" diatribe
Review: A cheery, pretty, liberated, headstrong atheist comes to enlighten a town of stodgy, joyless, hypocritical, mean-spirited, loveless "Catholics." (I use quotes to denote the stereotyped Hollywood cartoon-type depictions of what liberals imagine religious types to be.) She opens a chocolate shop, which tempts the hapless villagers during Lent. Although the film is about tolerance, she seems completely oblivious or uncaring as to her causing the townspeople to stumble in their religious observances, openly inviting them to sample her wares during the holy season. Although she is rebuked for this, it is done through the unlikeable religious villain, so she's actually given a free pass on this. Figures of spousal, parental, and spiritual authority are ridiculed. Traditional marriage is likewise shown to be defunct. In the cookie-cutter mould of films like these, "religious" types resort to hatred, violence, etc. in God's name. There is a little balance, however. At the end, the young priest gives a message on tolerance. This might be good (tolerance = loving the person while rejecting their error) or bad (new tolerance = accepting and applauding error), depending how it is interpreted. Also, the "bad guy" is finally humanized, and the townspeople suddenly realize that Christ calls them to love! Wow, what a revelation. They have been living in ignorance of their own religion for decades. Thank God for liberal atheists. Although there are pretensions to deeper waters ("The Sly North Wind" - perhaps it's better used or explained in the book, but it's utterly an useless device here), it's predictable, without much depth; like watching a long, alternate-world episode of "The West Wing." Thus it will be lauded and loved by all but the most thoughtful liberals (the ones who didn't scream for "Fight Club" to be burned). Don't say you weren't warned.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolat as good as chocolat
Review: I really loved this film it was very funny and well made and it made me crave chocolat.

Rating:
Summary: Simply a pleasure
Review: All of you know that critics teared it to tiny pieces and along with many "pure movie fans" can't forgive this one the participation in the Oscar's run. And the "stubborn" Academy still choose Chocolat as one of the 5 best pictures of the year. Why? Well, i guess they simply enjoyed it as i and everyone i happened to know did.

This movie can be described as a fairy tale. In European style. The misterious woman arrives with her daughter to some anonimous (supposedly French) small town. And, as it appears, she also wants to start some chocolat buisness. Her strange habbits, appearance and "dark" past along with the unfamiliar sweet stuff she tries to produce make the local people feel quite uncomfortable in their skin. What, of course, creates some tensions and relationships of all kinds between her and the local community.

This is the story in a nutshell. It's not really original (well, it's also adapted), intellectual and actually it's not really plot-driven piece of moviemaking. And it's not a masterpiece. It's flawed, as ALL other Oscar contenders. It also may not be your cup of tea. Everyone has a right for the opinion.

From the objective point of view it's a fine movie - it's well-directed, well-written, well-acted, well-scored and well-designed. It's definitely worth a look, though i believe you should see EVERY movie before you decide to buy it.

My personal advice to everyone -give Chocolat a try (unless you have some chocolat allergy) because you might immensely enjoy it. Because to my opinion it's better than its "just good" parts. Because it's charming and delightful as a real chocolat, and for a couple of hours might make you forget about your undone laundry, unpaid bills or irritating boss.

You may like Chocolat for its sheer entertaining value. But it also may make you think. About us, humans. About our perceptions and our attitudes, our choices and responsibilities for them.

Don't let the critics opinion fool yourself and turn these questions into sci-fi/intellectual genre prerogative. Because this can happen to every movie that makes you feel and care. Whatever... Forget about Oscars. Forget "it deserved it/it didn't deserve it" mumblings. Judge this movie as it is. Just don't forget to bring some fine chocolats with you beforehand. You might desperately need them afterwards!