Chocolat

I rented Chocolat over the Memorial day weekend and ended up really enjoying the movie. I found it interesting how the Chatholic church viewed the chocolate shop and extravagant feasts especially during lent and how serious it was taken around the town. It was funny how threatening the chocolate was to the mayors role in town and how he used the sermons of the young priest to manipulate the people against chocolate. Chocolate really had this supernatural power to it whether it was Juliette Binoche guessing someone favorite treat, or the special cocoa nuts that enhanced one's sexual desires. The spinning Mayan disc was interesting how Binoche assigned a chocolate treat to the image a person saw in the disc, suggesting some tie between the imaginative subconscious and one's taste for food (or at least chocolate). Judi Dench's role I thought was strange how she was a diabetic and her overindulgence eventually did lead to her ultimate death but she went out with a smile on her face. Ultimately the chocolate was so powerful that it brought the whole village together in a new way and even won the heart of the mayor in the end. Food really is a powerful thing and I'd like to experience that power on a level like Chocolat. Here's an interesting source on the subject:

Schwartz, George R. Food Power: How Food Can Change Your Mind, Your Personality, And Your Life. New York : McGraw-Hill, c1979.