CHOCOLAT -- Lasse Hallström, dir

©2001
studio: Miramax
dir: Lasse Hallström
cast: Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alred Molina, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp. Carrie-Ann Moss
based on the book by Joanne Harris

A woman moves in to a small French village and opens a chocolate shop during Lent, testing and tempting the morality and spirit of the conservative village.

This is a wonderful movie. I'd heard so much about it, and have been eager to watch it. I truly enjoy movies that hint at a greater, perhaps magical power, but remain rooted on earth. Here that greater power is the woman's ability to know a person's favorite chocolate and how that simple piece of sweet confection has a profound effect on the person's life.

The cast is stellar. Everyone seems to work so well together, with no one looking like the "star" of the film. This (and other of his films) has made me appreciate Johnny Depp as an actor. Alfred Molina is outstanding as the town's mayor, bent on controlling the village in an almost dictatorial style but with seemingly good intentions. His breakdown in the chocolate shop is wonderful.

One thing that strikes me, which I haven't read much about in regards to the film, is how the coming together of the two "sides" of the town is a result of the Church, and the inner strength of the young, American-music-loving priest, and not the magic of the chocolates or the young chocolate-selling woman. It is the young priest who gives his own sermon, and not one written by the mayor, which suggests that open arms, rather than closed doors is the way God would want his people to act. Only than do the villagers openly welcome the chocolaterie. And this works well because most people aren't going to change their habits and moral structure over-night, but if they have been faithful to the church (for whatever reasons), they will continue to do so, and only the church can open them up.

A highly recommended film.