Since it is Memorial Day weekend I found myself heading back home for the weekend. Of course the last thing on my mind on the way out of my front door to make the trip was any homework I might have. Because of this I don’t have a copy of the exact assignment and it has not been posted yet on the main class blog site. So bare with me as I tried to get an idea from the couple of other posts that have been made so far.
I was reminded that I needed to do the assignment when I was scanning through the Comcast On-Demand movies. Up popped Chocolat, which couldn’t have made my life any easier. I thought it was very interesting that they chose to place the timing of the movie during lent. In a town that’s activities are directly controlled by the Catholic Church I have a hard time believing that the only person who truly opposes the sins that are being committed by the townspeople is the mayor. Lent is extremely important in the Catholic Church and yet all of these people seem to be easily swayed to give in to worldly pleasures. And just because a woman makes the perfect piece of chocolate for them? Maybe it’s partly that I don’t really enjoy chocolate, but I think even if you are a so called “choco-holic” your religious beliefs would be slightly more important than any type of food. All of this on top of the fact that this was not my type of movie at all, lead to me not enjoying this film at all.
The review I read was titled “Beneath Chocolat Temptation, A Serious Mix of Social Issues.” Bill Muller puts it very succinctly by saying that the movie “simply is a fairy tale.” It is a small story told in grand fashion. He does make a very good point by saying that the story does show the pitfalls of narrow minded thinking and to demonstrate the costs of not conforming. In the end I am the type of person that will watch almost any movie at least once and I feel that this is just another name to put on the list.
Muller, Bill. Beneath Chocolat Temptation, A Serious Mix of Social Issues." Arizona Republic 22 Dec 2000: P3.
1 comment:
Bill Muller is right, Chocolat is a fairy tale. That's a large part of the attraction for me; I live in reality, I don't watch movies to see more reality.
I don't think the point of the movie is to say that chocolate is more important than your religious beliefs. I think the point is that there's no point making yourself miserable for no reason. There is no reason that the one woman is still in mourning in the 1950s for the death of her husband who died in the first World War. She's interested, but it's her friends (peer pressure!) who pull her away from talking with Guillaume. But you have a point, Vianne perhaps doesn't necessarily NEED to be so confrontational by opening during Lent. It helps move the movie along though.
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