Eating chocolate, some say, produces almost the same emotional effect as making love -- and Lasse Hallstrom's lip-smacking "Chocolat" is a film that encourages such sensuous analogies. It's tantalizing, delectable and randy, a movie of melting eroticism and toothsome humor.
Set in a small French village in the 1950s, starring Juliette Binoche and directed by Hallstrom from the 1999 novel by French-British author Joanne Harris, "Chocolat" is a delightful confection, a cream-filled (and slightly nutty) bon-bon of a movie. From its grand views of a 10-centuries-old French village to its irresistible cast, I thought the whole thing was scrumptious -- though some compulsive moralists may disagree.
After all, this is a film as much about the perils of moralism as the joys of sweets. "Chocolat's" heroine, Vianne Rocher, as played by Binoche (the brilliant, dreamily beautiful star of "The English Patient" and "Three Colors: Blue"), is a sweet mystery. She's a suspected witch whose major assets are a sunny disposition, her lovely 9-year-old daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol, the great child star of "Ponette"), and a seemingly endless supply of chocolate recipes, handed down along with some Mayan artifacts by Vianne's late mother. Wafted in by a magical wind one day, Vianne stops in the tiny town of Lansquenet ("Chocolat's" fictitious setting) and buys a defunct bakery that becomes a chocolate shop. She opens it on the first days of Lent, which puts her at immediate odds with Lansquenet's mayor, the suave tyrant, Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina).
Soon a full-scale war has erupted between the forces of self-proclaimed virtue (led by Reynaud) and the champions of chocolate and sensual pleasure (led by Vianne). Headed for an Easter Sunday showdown, it's an unequal combat in spite ofReynaud's wealth, prestige, brutality, ruthlessness and tight control of the town and the church. Reynaud issues edicts; Vianne whips up truffles. Reynaud spreads vile gossip; Vianne serves up steaming cups of cocoa. Reynaud invokes eternal damnation; Vianne offers glaces, mousses, cremes and gateaux.
Despite all Reynaud's efforts, much of the town gets hooked on the chocolate. Under the potent spell of Vianne's sweets and her good counsel, old lovers come together, grandmothers and grandsons reunite, women find strength to stand up for themselves. Rallying around Vianne are foxy grandma Armande Voizin (Judi Dench), runaway abused wife Josephine Muscat (Hallstrom's own mate, Lena Olin) and Vianne's sometime swain and barge gypsy Roux (Johnny Depp). Others in Lansquenet's populace include two shy old lovers, winningly played by crusty John Wood and the eternal gamin Leslie Caron.
Still, Reynaud remains relentless -- and with him are Armande's priggish daughter Caroline Clairmont (Carrie Anne Moss) and her fellow snobs, plus the alcoholic brute, Josephine's abandoned husband, Serge (Peter Stormare): a man with a hot temper and a book of matches.
"Chocolat" is a feast of fine actors -- and every one of them is a joy to watch. Binoche, her smile irradiating the screen, is a siren of quiet passion, piquancy and gem-like flame; Dench is a grand matriarch of luminous wisdom and salty bravado. Neither, despite some temptations, ever strikes an unmelodious note.
Harris' book has been altered by screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs (of the erratic 1997 Lemmon-Matthau comedy "Out to Sea") and not always wisely. The story has been softened and moved from the present to the past. Depp's Irish gypsy is more of a dreamboat than the book's Roux. In the biggest change, villain Reynaud has switched occupations -- in the novel he is an obsessed priest with death on his conscience. Obviously, the motive for making Reynaud a mayor -- and inventing another cleric, the likable young Elvis fan Pere Henri (Hugh O'Conor) -- is to avoid offending the religious. Yet the change of the chief heavy to an upper-class politico in some ways makes "Chocolat" even more subversive and effective. This is a movie about rebellion and battling prejudice, but it's all done so lightly and lusciously, the themes are never indigestible.
"Chocolat" is a romance that is really romantic, a comedy that's really funny and a fairytale that floods the screen with genuine magic. Some will compared "Chocolat" slightingly to the Mexican hit "Like Water for Chocolate"; others may complain that Hallstrom is too Swedish and his cast too international for this sort of French souffle. But "Chocolat" is a comic fable that richly expands the tradition of "Carnival of Flanders" or the early Rene Clair films -- and Hallstrom ("Cider House Rules") seems perfect for it. He's a master of ensembles and small-town atmosphere ("My Life as a Dog") and his light, knowing touch teases out the story's inner pain and outer gossamer fun, makes it a rare treat.
`CHOCOLAT'
(star)(star)(star)(star)
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; written by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on the novel by Joanne Harris; photographed by Roger Pratt; edited by Andrew Mondschein; production designed by David Gropman; music by Rachel Portman; produced by David Brown, Kit Golden, Leslie Holleran. A Miramax Films release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:58. MPAA rating: PG-13 (a scene of sensuality and some violence).
THE CAST
Vianne Rocher ............... Juliette Binoche
Josephine Muscat ............ Lena Olin
Roux ........................ Johnny Depp
Armande Voizin .............. Judi Dench
Comte de Reynaud ............ Alfred Molina
Serge Muscat ................ Peter Stormare
Madame Audel ................ Leslie Caron
Anouk Rocher ................ Victoire Thivisol