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Como agua para chocolate
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Como agua para chocolate (1992) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   6,510 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alfonso Arau
Writers:
Laura Esquivel (novel)
Laura Esquivel (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Like Water for Chocolate on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 February 1993 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
A feast for the senses!
Plot:
This movie is about how life used to be in Mexico. It is a love story between Pedro and Tita, and why... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 21 wins & 8 nominations more
User Comments:
A Breath of Hot Oxygen: 10/10 more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Marco Leonardi ... Pedro Muzquiz

Lumi Cavazos ... Tita
Regina Torné ... Mamá Elena
Mario Iván Martínez ... Doctor John Brown
Ada Carrasco ... Nacha

Yareli Arizmendi ... Rosaura
Claudette Maillé ... Gertrudis
Pilar Aranda ... Chencha
Farnesio de Bernal ... Cura
Joaquín Garrido ... Sargento Treviño
Rodolfo Arias ... Juan Alejándrez
Margarita Isabel ... Paquita Lobo
Sandra Arau ... Esperanza Muzquiz
Andrés García Jr. ... Alex Brown
Regino Herrera ... Nicolás
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Like Water for Chocolate (International: English title)
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Runtime:
105 min | Mexico:113 min (R Rated NTSC Version)
Country:
Mexico
Language:
Spanish | English
Colour:
Colour
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
An aspiring filmmaker from Texas, who was not involved with the project, was able to spend time on set, because he was in town shooting a small budget ($5,000) full-length feature film for the Spanish home video market. That young filmmaker was Robert Rodriguez, and the film was El Mariachi, which would go on to become a hit at Sundance and launch his career. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Reflected in a window during a dolly shot as Tita leaves the table while everyone eats their cake. more
Quotes:
Gertrudis: Sergeant, can you cook cream fritters?
Sargento Treviño: To be honest ... no. But if you want, I will try.
Gertrudis: You have never let me down before. I hope this will not be the first time.
Sargento Treviño: Yes, my general.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Lone Gunmen: Like Water for Octane (#1.4)" (2001) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful:-
A Breath of Hot Oxygen: 10/10, 4 August 2002
10/10
Author: anyazontova from Los Angeles, CA

Like Water for Chocolate is a masterpiece in that it conveys the essence of our ancestors' knowledge forgotten in the fast pace of modern living.

It centers around the wonder of cooking: a sacred ritual, not a boring chore; and when done right, with love, it creates magic. Raised and taught to cook by her old Mayan nanny, Tita (exquisitely performed by Lumi Cavazos) masters the near-magical ability of transferring her love and other feelings into her creations passed into one who eats them.

The characters‘ senses are so refined, they enable everyone involved in this family drama to be tuned to the finest nuances of their world, opening the door to non-material pleasures. Rich with metaphors, their language reflects the skills of keen and sometimes humorous observation. The story brings our perception to a different level - as its characters' empathy borders on miracles and magic, and things we only sense and feel become real. Tita's virgin breasts, feeling `like dough kneaded' by strong hands, turn into mature breasts under Pedro's burning eyes (to later start lactating) - their glances, just like her food, becoming the means of communicating their forbidden love.

Yet all magic becomes wasted in the face of a man's choice. The Universe may scream into Pedro's ears about the path he is to take, but if he doesn't follow it, no magic can save him. We witness the story of a fatal attraction between two soulmates, whose passion, confined by an enslaving family tradition, lights up everyone around them... But for themselves, it's so intense, it literally engulfs the lovers in flames. Did they have an alternative? It is for the viewer to figure out.

You may ponder, however, over the young doctor's Indian grandmother saying that `each of us is born with a box of matches inside but we can't strike them all by ourselves; we need oxygen and a candle to help. The oxygen would come from a lover's breath; the candle could be a food, a melody, a word, a caress, or a sound...' He remembers her warning, though, that `it is important to light the matches one at a time' because otherwise the heat generated would produce too dazzling a brilliance.

Thus the wisdom of the ages, just like the power, is passed here through women and the men who are in tune with them. And the intense interactions between the colorful characters of five generations extend to dead family members who continue to counsel or despise the living.

When coming into her room with Pedro after 22 years of their waiting for each other, Tita is greeted by her long deceased nanny lighting her bed and the room with multiple candles. And the consequences of one's actions carries on beyond time - as each person continues her path notwithstanding death.

Hot yellow-red colors intermixed with dense lighting rekindle one's passion for living and appreciation for the gifts and mysteries of the Mexican land. The magic realism becomes a way of living in a culture connected with its heritage.

I recommend Like Water for Chocolate to anyone who feels like he/she is lacking color and passion in life - if watched with an open mind and heart, this beautiful and enigmatic film will stir your senses and imagination and light up your box of matches!

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Other movies with that magical quality? cesca2
Interesting little movie GoddessLu
Was it just me, or... keylimepie5
Marco Leonardi ruffian402
Mario Iván Martínez dime_luna_de_plata
About the book. Sobre el libro. prisylovemty_13
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