Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
"Chocolat" is Moviemaking at its best: a sweet story with an important message
Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley
Chocolat — 4 Stars (Excellent)
It is rare that one can say that a movie is so warm and wonderful it can even overcome a manipulative, vengeful figure of authority and a husband guilty of spousal abuse, but "Chocolat" manages to do so with some great quality, writing and directing.
Chocolat is all that is the right on film, a romantic comedy with some drama and important lessons to be learned about the rejection, love, compassion, kindness, friendship, acceptance and help people at their point of need.
Like many great films that win Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Chocolate is a storyteller who weaves a fantastic tale fueled by the flow of northerly winds.
It is the northerly winds that bring Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche), a single mother and her 6-year-old daughter Anouk (Margin Thivisol) to a small rural town in France, where he immediately Vianne opens a chocolate shop Hours Sunday-through the streets of the Catholic Church during the Lenten season.
Many of the 350 village residents are skeptical of the arrival of Vianne, and especially because it has opened its business when many have given up sweets for Lent as a sacrifice to their creator.
Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), the mayor, is beyond outraged that anyone would do such a thing in his village. The mayor is a manipulative control freak who demands that villagers live up to its code of conduct, doing basically what he says when he says that, at the right time. It is expected to meet the standards of the municipality, or face being ostracized, and being told to leave.
Clearly, the mayor and the new city will be chocolate faces. What is unclear is how Vianne chocolates affect those who dare to eat.
One by one begins to win over the peasants, helping them to their point of need. Vianne befriends Voizin Armande (Judi Dench), the owner, whose daughter Caroline Clairmont (Carrie-Anne Moss) refuses to let his mother see her grandson Luc Clairmont (Aurelien Parent-Koenig). Armande is a diabetic who does not take proper care of herself, choosing to live the rest of his life as he pleases.
Vianne also befriends Josephine Muscat (Lena Olin), who finds refuge in the rental of Vianne above the chocolate shop when it leaves her alcoholic, abusive husband Serge Muscat (Peter Stormare). Violence erupts Serge storms when the house to retrieve his wife, he is as smart as a rock and treats his wife like a punching bag.
Vianne also the manages to encourage the married life of a couple with a chocolate aphrodisiac, and encourages the secret love of an older man for a widow who has been in mourning for more than 40 years.
Things begin to spiral out of control when a band of river gypsies led by Roux (Johnny Depp) camp on the river near the village, and Vianne takes the Irish wanderer Roux. An incident near death leads to serious consequences for the guilty involved and also the instigator. Watch the film to see how everything ends. Tip: You'll know it ends with the north wind.
Chocolat (French for chocolate) gets some great performances as Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Lena Olin and Alfred Molina, among others. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the film in three different scenes, and for two songs on the soundtrack.
He has a movie star-studded international cast. Before filming Chocolat, the French actress Juliette Binoche had won an Oscar for best supporting actress in "The English Patient, "British actress Judi Dench won an Oscar as best supporting actress in" Shakespeare in Love "and the Swedish actress Lena Olin had earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in "Enemies: A Love Story".
Chocolat directed by Lasse Hallström, whose wife is Lena Olin. The film is based on the novel by Joanne Harris with the screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs.
Thanking the voters did not overlook the excellence of this film. The Binoche Academy Award nominee for best actress, Dench for Best Actress, Best Screenplay Jacobs, Rachel Portman for Best Original Music and Chocolat for best picture. Binoche, Dench, Chocolat Portman and were also nominated for Golden Globe Awards in the same categories. Chocolat also got 8 nominations on stage.
The box office numbers were good for chocolate too. The production budget was $ 25 million and retired $ 152 million in revenue worldwide. Chocolat also ranked among the Top 5 films in history to generate more revenue without hitting the No. 1 ranking.
In preparation for the film, Binoche was a chocolate shop in Paris to learn to make chocolate. One beneficiary of chocolates in the film had this to say, "And melts, God forgive me, that slowly melts on the tongue, and tortures you with pleasure. "No wonder people were won by the creations of Vianne.
However great the chocolates were in Chocolat, the real sweetness in this film is Juliette Binoche, I fell in love with her again. See Chocolat, is not only tasteful, but charming and delightful. May God Bless the cast and crew to bring us a wonderful presentation.
About the Author
Read more of my movie reviews on films with a lot of substance, depth and feeling, including:
“A Christmas Story” – “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” – “Secondhand Lions” – “The Chorus (Les Choristes in French)” – “Waking Ned Devine” – “Chariots of Fire” – “Steel Magnolias” – “Chocolat” and “Radio”
These are all excellent films.
Find my articles at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/MovieReviews.html