Rating of
3.5/4
Chocolat
Tia Maria - wrote on 07/12/08
This is a beautifully made movie about a woman and her daughter who move wherever the north wind carries them, just as people generations back, in their family, had done. So they arrive in a small French village, where everyone is expected to do the same as everyone else: attend Catholic church, participate in lent (fasting, not eating for religious purposes), and obey the mayor. Anyone who was different would be frowned upon. So this woman, Vianne and her daughter Anouk, arrive in this village and just as they always did, they set up a chocolatery. At first, Vianne did not get any business, as the towns people had never really seen anything like it - they didn't know what to think of it. And also she was different - she didn't go to church, and didn't do as the rest of the town did. But then she started getting some customers. Well, friends really, who would come and sit in her chocolatery and chat away. And after Vianne saw a lovely but troubled lady come into her store and steal a box of chocolates, she befriends her and saves her from her violent marriage. A bit later in the movie, a ship full of 'pirates' arrive on shore, and even though, legally, they are allowed to be there, the town doesn't like it, so they put up papers around the village saying how bad and immoral these pirates were. And this is when the mayor tries to drive her out of town...
This is a really beautiful movie, which gives out the message: don't ever change just because everyone else tells you to, be different. And Vianne didn't. She stayed true to herself to the very end, and didn't let anyone get in her way of doing what she does best: making chocolate.
