Vianne Rocher and her daughter travel with the north winds going from town to town throughout Europe giving people their specially made chocolate. One day they end up in a small town in France coming right at the beginning of lent. This small french town is very religious and follow tight rules and follow their old traditions under the strict ruling of their mayor. With the start of lent and Vianne Rocher coming and setting up a chocolate shop in the middle of town, she causes chaos thought the town. Vianne Rocher is very different from the townspeople. She doesn’t go to church, has a daughter but no husband, and wears very different clothes from the rest of the women. Vianne Rocher is judged for this and some people in the town especially the mayor  thinks of her as a villain who goes against everything they believe in and wants them so sin. You aren’t supposed to have sweets during lent and the people who do enter her shop are considered sinners and then looked down on from the mayor and other people in town. The chocolate shop becomes a place of safety for the people in the town who don’t believe in the same things as the mayor. People will go to the chocolate shop for comfort and it becomes a place for the outsiders of the town to become who they want to be and a place where everyone is accepted no matter what. Vianne Rocher is not very judgmental and accepts everyone in the town and tries to give everyone chocolate. People are sceptical at first but then once they try the chocolate they form a bond and a sense of trust with her and the chocolate shop them becomes the safe space for everyone. The mayor is unhappy with people sneaking in to get chocolate because it’s considered sinning and he tries many times to make people hate her and to get her to leave. In the end even the mayor ends up trying the chocolate and everyone is almost set free from the old ways and traditions that the town once had and they all celebrate the chocolate on easter.

This film had a lot of underlying messages to it and it also had some themes that we went over in our class. One of the themes was chocolate viewed as material and symbolic. Chocolate has multiple symbols throughout the film. The first one is a symbol of rebellion and sin the people in the town are in the middle of lent when the chocolate shop opens and the people who go into the shop are then judged and thought down on in the community because they are “sinning”. The second thing it represents is freedom and community. As people start going to the chocolate shop they get closer and start doing things they want to do like the lady leaving her husband and the grandma talking to her son. Then the people in the community have a chocolate 70th birthday party and the people who go are considered the rebels and in the very end everyone even the mayor accepts the chocolate and on easter they have a large chocolate festival which represents them getting rid of their sins and moving on.

Another theme that from the movie that was related to the class was gender. Most of the women in the film had major roles in the movie. All of the cooking that gets done is by the women in the town and men are mainly the ones consuming it. There is a scene where the mayor of the town eats a ton of chocolate and way over eats. They counter this with women in the town saying things like”i’ll just have a little”. There is two other scenes with two different women in the town one is shown cooking and cleaning while her husband sits on the couch eating and then sleeping. She also brings him the food in his chair. Another scene is were another lady in the town is also doing all the cleaning and cooking and is yelled at and abused by her husband. In both of these relationships Vianne Rocher helps them out by giving them chocolate and helping these marriages and women.

Another theme that was used in the film that related to class was consumption as communication. Consumption as communication appears in the scenes where people go into the chocolate shop and then start telling her there problems and all about their lives. The old lady and the lady who was being abused are good examples of this and how communication and trust end up being apart of the entire chocolate experience. The chocolate also served as communication. When Vianne Rocher would go out of her way to give people in the town that were struggling chocolate, the chocolate communicated friendship and a sense of caring. As people started to trust Vianne Rocher more and more then the chocolate started to communicate trust and loyalty to the community. The old lady at first docent open up and says “its non of your damn business” but then later after eating the chocolate opens up and trusts Vianne Rocher. 

Another theme from class that was represented in the film was tradition and authenticity. This was shown in the film when Vianne Rocher tells her daughter a bedtime story about her grandparent “they drank refined cacao used in ancient Maya sacred ceremonies.” “mother and daughter were fated to wander from village to village dispensing ancient cacao remedies”. Vianne Rocher’s mom was apart of a society that originally made chocolate from a certain kind of cacao bean. They would make the chocolate a certain way and would travel around giving the knowledge to other towns and people because the chocolate made from this certain type of cocoa bean was “life changing”. There is also a scene in the middle when she is working with the lady who was being abused by her husband and she shows her the “right” way to make the chocolate and how to grind the beans the right way, the way her ancestors made it.

I think this this film was really good. It had a lot of underlying meaning and messages thought the entire film and every part was important and represented something. There was a lot of symbolism which I really liked and incorporated a lot of issues about women and their roles in society and how they are thought to be and do, and issues about religion and mens roles in society. I really liked how the chocolate made everyone change so drastically and helped so many of the towns people’s lives. Everyone’s reaction to the chocolate was very well acted and almost comical, they way they would light up from just one bite. It was like she was putting a drug in the chocolate or some kind of magic in it. (quote from lady what was in that chocolate) Overall the film was really well done and was very enjoyable.

Sources:

Hallström, L. (Director). (2000). Chocolat[Motion picture on Netflix]. United States: Miramax Films presents.