![]() ![]() However, in this film we have some magic realism to deal with. The story of Chocolat could be described in one sentence-Footloose, only instead of dancing, it's chocolates. Here, Vianne meets Roux (Johnny Depp), and they become fast friends and, well, you know the rest. The non-churchgoing Vianne eventually becomes the center of the town's controversy, but she soon has company after the arrival of the river rats, a group of Irish merchants who travel by boat to pawn off whatever they can, much to the dismay of the townspeople. A sexless, joyless married couple all of a sudden can't keep their Butterfingers off each other. ![]() The chocolates also seem to be changing people's behavior. Actually, the whole town goes to the same church and it doesn't take long before the Mayor (Alfred Molena) has his say against the shop, since many of the chocolates have been carved into the shapes of naked women and have names such as Nipples of Venus. Amande's young grandson, Luc, an aspiring artist, also can't seem to stay away from the chocolate store, in spite of the wishes of his churchgoing mother (Carrie-Anne Moss). We could only dream of such customer service this time of year. Amande tells her and Vianne presumes to know exactly what kind of confection Amande would like the best. Vianne puts a colorful ceramic plate on the table and spins it around. One diabetic woman, Amande (Judi Dench), decides to stay for a little while. The townspeople look in the window, admire the confections for a moment, then walk on by. She, along with her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), moves into a quiet French village during Lent and opens her chocolate shop. Juliette Binoche stars as Vianne Rosher, a chocolate shop owner who not only gets people to talk about their forbidden fruits, but also has the ability to make people happily indulge in them. Does it not strike you as a little humorous when someone looks at a menu, knows exactly what they want, but then decides not to get it for fear they will not only offend their God, but offend their own nature? Lasse Hollstrom's latest film, Chocolat, knows all about that person. We can surpress them and deny them, but we can't quite run away from them. ![]()
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