Like Water for Chocolate

Rating:
Summary: Superb - One of the Great Foreign Language Films of Our Time
Review: A thrilling, intoxicating masterpiece, "Like Water for Chocolate" will leave you hungry, happy and hung over with its surreal vision and unforgettable performances. Some of the film's charm lies in its uncompromising vision of what it must be like to be a poor, Mexican woman, surrounded by angry sisters and petty jealousies. The food is a miracle of texture and authenticity that makes the book a recipe lover's dream. But the spiritual aspects of the movie take it someplacve else altogether....by tying food and unseen forces together, the author and director have fashioned love as a cycle of human emotion coupled with betrayal and passion. Believers and non-believers alike are asked to suspend judgement and just BE with this movie, for it raises issues and themes rarely imagined or acheived on film. A few sequences are startling - such as a wedding party where every guest is gastronimically infected by a soup that is stewed with the tears of our protagonist, and they all end up regurgitating the mixture, and in the end, understanding that true love should not be gambled away for money or superiority. Another sequence, where the middle daughter Gertudis, is literally kidnapped by a horse riding gunslinger while she sits alone in an outhouse doing her business, is hysterical, yet also painful to watch, because it symbolizes the woman's need for free choice in a world where men have so much of the power. Besides, any couple who has eloped or married without their parent's blessings will quickly make the connection to their own experience. If you can keep up with the subtitles, I'd advise against a dubbed version, for in its Spanish - eloquent, funny and dramatic - the film c aptures its truest form of communication. And food as metaphor - used in other terrific fims like "Babette's Feast" - has never been presented in such an awe inspiring manner. This is a feast to be savored every step of its delectible way.

Rating:
Summary: a feast of the 5 senses, come to life
Review: after you watch this movie, you will either want to eat, cook (preferably one of the mentioned recipes), make love or all three! i saw the version dubbed in spanish, and also read 3 selected chapters from the book, for spanish class. it's a work of art and genius, and it must be watched all the way through without stopping. the characters are excellently portrayed, and it combines love, feminism, drama, sensuality, lust, hope, passion, and humour, topped with cultural tradition and folklore. i don't know which one is better, the book or the movie. all of the 5 senses are provoked on a deep and perhaps even primal level, especially taste and smell, feverishly yearning for a sum greater than their overall parts (gestalt) - which brings up the sixth sense, intuition.

Rating:
Summary: Mas profundo que las palabras
Review: "Como agua para chocolate" truly takes Laura Esquivel's emotional and magical story and brings it to life. Taking the romance of "Romeo and Juliet" and combining it with the magic from "Cinderella", "Como agua para chocolate" includes 'ingredients' for almost any viewer. With the film's predominantly female cast along with the kitchen as the main setting, many often assume that this film only pleases a female audience. However, anyone searching for a multisensory experience. in which taste, smell and touch seem to become possible, should rent this movie. Even those who are unable to understand the words, whether they be in english or spanish, will never feel left out during this film. The director's interpretation of color, ilumination and angles, along with the actors' facial expressions and body language, is what truly make this film magical. Esquivel succeeds in her novel by making a reader savor each one of her words and descriptions, and this adaptation, even without the words, allows its audience to savor and experience the same themes of unconditional love, struggle and liberation. Scenes of passion and frustration, of sadness and sheer relief, only add to the film's ability to reach out and become a story of our very own. From the first moment when the narrator talks to us while peeling an onion, we are invited into Tita's kitchen and asked to join this family on a journey. The only problem is being able to leave Mama Elena's ranch at the end of the film and return to 'reality.' "Como agua para chocolate" is truly HOT, and anyone who finishes this film without being entertained as well as emotionally satisfied has not taken in the whole experience that this film has to offer.

Rating:
Summary: Do not watch this on an empty stomach
Review: This is a Mexican romance novel set in the early part of the 20th century masquerading as a naturalistic melodrama with supernatural overtones, penned by director Alfonso Arau's wife, Laura Esquivel. We can see from the frequent narrative voice-overs that her novel was beautifully, if idiotically, written. Although "Chocolate" strains credulity at times and offends my sensibilities, it provides moments of pleasant diversion. I am reminded of Dickens, somehow. I think it is because the mother is so bad, and so many years pass before she gets her comeuppance, which is the way Dickens used to do it. She is truly a mommy from hell. She even comes back to haunt her poor last-born daughter.

Tita, the youngest daughter, played sympathetically by Lumi Cavazos, is a sort of Cinderella to her two older sisters and her evil mother. She has to work in the kitchen and is constantly abused by her mother while forbidden to marry since it is a family tradition that she must take care of her mother in her old age. Consequently, her true love, Pedro, a wooden pretty boy, is given to her sister instead of her. He goes along with this since it allows him to be close to Tita. One gets the sense that Pedro figures he's getting two for the price of one, although initially he acts out a celibate role, the better to whet the appetite, I suppose.

The scene where the oldest daughter is carried off by a swashbuckling rebel, (...) on his horse, reveals the romance novel heart of the movie. Further swells the fancy of the feminine heart when she returns years later as a revolutionary general (!) in tweed jacket wearing bandoliers of bullets, still beloved by her handsome abductor.

As is the rule in women's POV fairy tales, the men in this movie are without personality: they just fill the roles as heroes, lovers and villains. What counts is the interaction between the women and the fulfillment of romantic notions. Nonetheless, there are a number of nice touches, especially the sumptuous feasts including such delectables as baked quail with rose petal sauce, chillis with walnuts, and corn fritters with syrup. Yummy!

Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Of All Time.
Review: This movie is my personal favourite. The acting is superb, the settings, the shooting location, everything is perfect. It's the best movie I've seen all my life and it's all made in 1993 where the camera technology isn't that advance at all.

The scene is great, the storyline is wonderful. The ending is truly bitter sweet. Like water for chocolate... all I can say is, it's wonderful. A must see for movie fans worldwide. I have to note that it's better to see the movie in spanish language with english subtitle and not the english dubbed version. The direct translation of spanish to english is horrible.

Regardless, my favourite character in the movie is the priest. Look at his expression throughout the movie... it's superb! I especially love the part where he ate the wedding cake... great acting! He should get an oscar for eating the cake alone!

I can't say more about this movie. I just hope more of these great films will come out in future.

[...]

Rating:
Summary: A Very Enjoyable Movie
Review: This is an "R" rated movie but barely so. There is some nudity and adult situations but it is really a delightful story. It is about a young girl whose life is pre-ordained to be that of a spinster caring for her parents. In her youth, she falls in love but her domineering mother will not allow her to marry. The story moves on from there in a way that amuses, endears, angers, and, occassionally, confuses us. It has a kind of mystical nature to it and much of it is tied into the special family recipes. Apparently, the original book was both novel and cook book. This is probably not a good movie to see on an empty stomach.

The acting is very good. The role of the mother is excellently protrayed as cold, and calculating. One sister is free-wheeling while the other tends to take after mom. There are many other characters including a couple of suitors, maids, and others who give the story a multi-dimensioned flavor. It is the heroine of the story, Tita, who carries the movie. Her innocence, patience, sincerity et. al. leaves no doubt as to whom we are cheering for. The ending is where some of the confusion comes in. You can decide for yourselves what to think of it. I might have chosen a different ending but it probably wouldn't have had the same impact that this movies brings.

The version I saw is in Spanish with English subtitles which means that you have to pay attention. I don't think many people watching this movie have had trouble paying attention. In fact, you'll find it pays off to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Romantic, historial, culinary delight! I love this movie!
Review: I love this movie. If you are a hopeless romantic, this is the movie for you. I think the movie is profund and it made me think about the characters, why they did what they did, etc. Tita is the youngest daughter. Her family tradition is that the youngest daughter is born to care for her mother and is not to ever marry. The problem is that out of her 3 sisters, it is she the youngest who has a suitor who has fallen in love with her and she with him. Her mother is a very strict stern woman who will not allow her to marry. So Pedro (Tita's suitor) decides that he will marry her older sister to be close to Tita. Pedro's decision is questioned throughout the movie. Was his decision wise or foolish? At one point Tita asks him why didn't you just ask me to run away with you. Did he take the coward's way out by marrying someone he did not love or was that a true sacrifice of love. Regardless, their love is strong and always present throughout their lives. Tita spends most of her time in the kitchen preparing family meals and her emotions go directly into the foods she prepares. I found this facinating. Her mother forces Tita to put aside her emotions and bake the wedding cake. Well Tita starts to cry for her lost love while she is mixing the cake batter and her tears fall into it. When the guests eat the cake, each person is taken over by deep meloncholy in remember their own unrequited love. And a massive crying and outpouring of emotions take over the wedding. It's funny yet profund in showing how each one of us has a story of a lost love. The movie is great. I found so much enjoyment in it. I also read the book and the book is exactly like the movie and the book includes the receipes of the meals in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Like Water For Chocolate
Review: In the novel, "Like Water for Chocolate," I found it very interesting that two young people, Tita and Pedro fell deeply in love and they could never marry each other. The best part about the book was that they had to hide their feelings from everyone but they knew they loved each other deep inside their hearts. I liked the fact that they loved each other until the day they died and they died making love to each other. I strongly recommend this book to other people.

Rating:
Summary: Cosy watching but not much more
Review: The movie on its own (like the book) is imaginative and very good and -- at least with the Spanish language soundtrack -- I would rate it between four and five stars. I have only given the DVD two stars, however, (and that is being generous), because approximately one-sixth of the film (18 of its original 123 minutes) has been inexplicably cut, leaving a sadly truncated 105-minute version. It is unclear why Buena Vista Home Entertainment chose to delete nearly a sixth of the film, but even if they believed that a shorter version would appeal to a wider audience (maybe, maybe not), it is unforgivable that they did not include the missing footage as "deleted scenes" so that those who wanted to see the entire film would be able to do so. This is simply too big a cut for buyers to accept (even at this rather attractive price). Rather than pay for a film that has been so badly butchered (the only worse case I know of is the Region 2 (European) version of "The Big Country," from which nearly an hour was cut, for reasons no one can explain), I will avoid buying this film on DVD until Buena Vista provides a "Collector's" or "Director's Cut" version that restores the film -- one way or another -- to its full original length.

Rating:
Summary: Teacher Recommended!!!!
Review: Since I majored in Spanish in college, and eventually went on to become a high school Spanish teacher, I see just about every Spanish-language film that is released in my area of New Jersey. I walked out of the theater completely stunned at how amazing this film was. The story is beautiful, the acting amazing, and the total experience enthralling. Since I teach in a public high school, I would have to edit a few parts to show it to my students and I couldn't in good conscience do that. Every piece of the film is necessary to truly understand the world that is created. None of the nudity or sexual situations are gratuitous. When my students are in the final stages of their high school careers, I recommend the film to them. Many have watched it and come back to me to thank me for telling them about it. If you are at all interested in the Spanish language, or Mexican culture, this film is a definite MUST SEE!!!!