Like Water for Chocolate

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Summary: I guess I didn't get it?
Review: I was really excited to see this movie, after all the great reviews I had heard about it. I found it to be the most boring, uninvolving movie I've seen! The storyline is insulting to the intelligence of its viewers. And what is with this "sensuous" stuff I keep reading about? There was nothing of the sort in this film. If you're looking for a fairy-tale type movie, with dull characters and an uninteresting storyline, I guess this is it. A big letdown.

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Summary: The best love storys are ...
Review: The best love stories are the ones that make your heartache. The kind that make you feel something for the characters. Like Water for Chocolate is the best love story ever. Set in Old Mexico the movie follows a girl who is in love. It shows her trials with her family and the struggles she has to be with the man who is her obvious soul mate. You will laugh and you will cry and you will LOVE this movie.

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Summary: At Long Last...Like Water for Chocolate on DVD!
Review: After several postponements of release, Like Water for Chocolate is finally available on DVD. This movie is the best to come out of México since "Le Epoca Dorada," or the Golden Age of Cinematography! This film deserves to claim its place among the timeless films of Pedro Infante, Maria Felix, and Pedro Armendariz! The DVD itself delivers what most DVDs promise: choice of languages (Spanish and English) and subtitles (Enlish or none). The DVD picture quality is excellent, as is the "American" release version on VHS, but unlike the "Mexican" release version on VHS (which is about 45 minutes longer btw). A good stereo or home theater, capable of taking advantage of the Digital soundtrack, will complement perfectly such a perfect film! ¡Felicidades! To Touchstone,Miramax, and Alfonso Arau!

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Summary: Salud to Alfonso Arau & Laura Esquivel!
Review: Alfonso Arau brilliantly directs and captures the textures and ambience Esquivel's novel brought to us. Excellent performances by Regina Torné as the Mother with an iron hand, Ada Carrasco as the beautiful grandmama, and of course Lumi Cavazos as Tita, in a role she was definitely born to play. After seeing it on the big screen I felt I needed to experience it two more times. It's hot, magical, lovely, hilarious and heart-wrenching. They don't make them like that anymore. What else can you say about the most successful foreign film of all time? One that, after its release, played in Seattle for 52 straight weeks.

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Summary: Cultural Love Story of Symbolic Significance
Review: Saw this movie years ago. Was taken by the muting of the voices of young women by culture. The film is rich in cultural expression and symbolism, however, that density of cultural protocol exhibits the limits...sometimes very limiting expressions of a personal sexual culture. I loved the passion/burning/fire and it all consuming characteristics. A passion I want only to enjoy vicariously. Ohh, the utility of art!

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Summary: Sex and Food, what more can you ask for?
Review: This is a yummy film in every sense of the word. I loved it and I would recommend it as a must see film along side "The Big Blue" and "The Company of Wolves." "Like Water for Chocolate" is beautifully crafted, well acted and an absolute must for those people who want sex, lust, desire and delicious food set out before them. I won't give away the plot, but the wedding cake scene is unforgettable, as is the serving up of enhiladas near the end of the film; both are poignant and funny in the same breath. Watch this film and drool all the way to the kitchen.

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Summary: Glad I saw it...
Review: I have been curious about this movie for a while. Its a little bizarre, or maybe whimsical is the appropriate word. It was sensual, surprising, and overall very enjoyable. (My husband, on the other hand, couldnt't quite get into it, but he sat through it with me just the same!)

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Summary: Touching, Funny and Thought Provoking....Not to Mention....
Review: A wonderful story set in turn of the century Mexico. The book is also excellent, which you can find on many auctions, and includes the recipes you learn from Tita in the movie. Actually I'm sure the book came out first, as usual, but this is the order I encountered them. Wonderful for a newly married couple with a slight sense of humor and a love for foriegn films. I suggest you get the subtitled version opposed to dubbed, it is easier to follow.

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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.

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Summary: The Search for Independence
Review: Like Water For Chocolate is the story of Tita, a Mexican woman who is struggling to escape the harsh reality of a family tradition. As the youngest daughter, she is restricted to a life without marriage, in order to care for her demanding mother. The director conveys Tita's thoughts through visual images as she searches for her independence. In order to release her overwhelming emotion, Tita cooks, knits, and learns of the spirit of shamanism. The lighting, the music, and the expressive actions of the young woman symbolize her frustration, anguish, and attempt at liberation. This family tale depicts Mexican culture as well as, the effects of tradition on the individual.