Here's a recipe for Chocolat: combine one part Babette's Feast and one part Footloose. Add two tablespoons of Like Water for Chocolate and stir.
I really enjoyed Chocolat. The acting is great, and, even with occasional dark elements, the story is sweet. But I kept feeling like I had seen this movie before. Babette's Feast, Footloose and Chocolat all bring nonconformist newcomers to small, conservative communities, where a clash is inevitable. As in Like Water for Chocolate, Vianne's creations work a seeming magic on those who taste them... and like Tita, Vianne seems to be unable to control her destiny. Tita, in Like Water for Chocolate, was unable to marry because of her mother's control. Vianne follows in her mother's footsteps, moving to a new place whenever the north wind blows.
As a Christian, I was disappointed by the portrayal of Christians in this movie -- sour and hard-hearted, opposites of Vianne, a sparkling, loving woman who is not a Christian. But I don't blame the film-makers, and I don't count my disappointment as "points off" my rating of this film. Unfortunately, such a picture of Christians is sometimes justified by our behavior; we would do well to look in the mirror if we feel hurt by how we are portrayed in movies like this. Still, Vianne seems determined to set herself at odds with the Christians from the get-go, and the Christians are more conservative than any I personally know. And would Lenten fasts in France in 1959 really be unbroken even on Sundays? I was raised in the Episcopal church in the 1970s and '80s and was taught that Sundays, even during Lent, were feast days.
I wasn't sorry I watched Chocolat. I'd even view it again. But before I do, I think I'll re-watch Babette's Feast. As a food film, I remember it as more satisfying fare.
I really enjoyed Chocolat. The acting is great, and, even with occasional dark elements, the story is sweet. But I kept feeling like I had seen this movie before. Babette's Feast, Footloose and Chocolat all bring nonconformist newcomers to small, conservative communities, where a clash is inevitable. As in Like Water for Chocolate, Vianne's creations work a seeming magic on those who taste them... and like Tita, Vianne seems to be unable to control her destiny. Tita, in Like Water for Chocolate, was unable to marry because of her mother's control. Vianne follows in her mother's footsteps, moving to a new place whenever the north wind blows.
As a Christian, I was disappointed by the portrayal of Christians in this movie -- sour and hard-hearted, opposites of Vianne, a sparkling, loving woman who is not a Christian. But I don't blame the film-makers, and I don't count my disappointment as "points off" my rating of this film. Unfortunately, such a picture of Christians is sometimes justified by our behavior; we would do well to look in the mirror if we feel hurt by how we are portrayed in movies like this. Still, Vianne seems determined to set herself at odds with the Christians from the get-go, and the Christians are more conservative than any I personally know. And would Lenten fasts in France in 1959 really be unbroken even on Sundays? I was raised in the Episcopal church in the 1970s and '80s and was taught that Sundays, even during Lent, were feast days.
I wasn't sorry I watched Chocolat. I'd even view it again. But before I do, I think I'll re-watch Babette's Feast. As a food film, I remember it as more satisfying fare.