This could be a film about the clash of the modern liberal culture with the traditional patriarchal society, in this case an oldish catholic village in rural France in the 50s. A contemporary reading could be the clash with the conservative Muslim countries in the Middle East that we witness today. The portrayal of such process that is affecting the lives of millions of people around the world (practically all traditional societies face this challenge as they are stripped off their isolation) as so a small and innocent story - the arrival of a chocolate-maker in a peaceful village - I thought - was a brilliant idea!
However by the end of the film I wasn't at all sure if the author was that deep.
Great films question the default values of their societies - sometimes showing us how ridiculous they (we) are, sometimes bringing them down with hammers, sometimes reinforcing them at the end but not before a critical examination. Chocolat was clearly not a great film. It turned out to be yet another western self-glorifying story showing controversial issues very one-sidedly and neatly resolved, disguising propaganda (that of political correctness) as objectivity. Just the kind of films that Oscars like, indeed.
Chocolat had simple and clear message - liberal is better than religious, those freed become happier (enjoy chocolate, sex, equal rights, etc). On the other hand Catholics are xenophobic, hypocrites, oppressing their wives. The issue of why is missing. They are i) simply bad/stupid/manipulated people, or ii) motivated in the meagre ways that a non-religious viewer could imagine, in this case - holding in power. This is bound to offend any viewers who understand motivation coming from a different perception of the world.
Any great film on this topic made in a liberal country, has to ask "are we right to believe that we are superior to others?", has to show us the event as the other side feels it, the side we are never compassionate with and we feel justified to go and change.(the oppressed, the zealots, the backward, the non-democratic). Just as the great film from a non-liberal country questions the zeal, oppression, etc. of its society. Unfortunately the liberal countries are far behind in both courage and open-mindedness in film-making compared with those we look down upon.
However by the end of the film I wasn't at all sure if the author was that deep.
Great films question the default values of their societies - sometimes showing us how ridiculous they (we) are, sometimes bringing them down with hammers, sometimes reinforcing them at the end but not before a critical examination. Chocolat was clearly not a great film. It turned out to be yet another western self-glorifying story showing controversial issues very one-sidedly and neatly resolved, disguising propaganda (that of political correctness) as objectivity. Just the kind of films that Oscars like, indeed.
Chocolat had simple and clear message - liberal is better than religious, those freed become happier (enjoy chocolate, sex, equal rights, etc). On the other hand Catholics are xenophobic, hypocrites, oppressing their wives. The issue of why is missing. They are i) simply bad/stupid/manipulated people, or ii) motivated in the meagre ways that a non-religious viewer could imagine, in this case - holding in power. This is bound to offend any viewers who understand motivation coming from a different perception of the world.
Any great film on this topic made in a liberal country, has to ask "are we right to believe that we are superior to others?", has to show us the event as the other side feels it, the side we are never compassionate with and we feel justified to go and change.(the oppressed, the zealots, the backward, the non-democratic). Just as the great film from a non-liberal country questions the zeal, oppression, etc. of its society. Unfortunately the liberal countries are far behind in both courage and open-mindedness in film-making compared with those we look down upon.