Juliette Binoche plays Vianne, the daughter of a legendary wandering family from Central America, who brings new life to a French village in 1959 with all of her chocolate recipes. Having transformed everyone in the town in some singular way, the chocolat shop is now run by Lena Olin and seemingly, just like she arrived, one day she and her daughter are gone on another wind. Under the "Old" system of fear, she had for years lived under the dictatorship of her abusive husband, but with Juliette's confidence, she breaks free and is liberated. One of the people liberated by Juliette was Lena Olin who was the battered wife of a local man. In their own ways, they both work miracles on the towns people leading them out of the "Dark Ages" and into the Twentieth Century. Just like Juliette, they are not the "Right Kind of People" either, you know, so-called pick-pockets, thieves, and fortune-tellers. Johnny Depp is the leader of a band of river people, like Gypsies, who come down the river one day. She is in many ways like a Pied-Piper leading the population into not being afraid to live their own lives without intimidation. With her strange knack of reading people, Juliette manages to select the right chocolat for each person, and they all secretly come and go avoiding that anyone else know. Her grandson is a nice child, and he sneaks to the chocolat shop just to see her. Her daughter and grandson don't have anything to do with her because she doesn't subscribe to their BS, which is the same as what is preached by the Count. Judy Dench is Juliette's landlord and they soon become fast friends. Not everyone is totally intimidated by the Count. In reality, he is a bitter old man who's w ife went on vacation to Italy long ago and has never come back. Heck, he even bullies the local priest as to what he preaches on Sunday in church. Juliette Binoche plays the lead as an unwed mother who opens a chocolat shoppe across from the church in a small French town at the height of Lent! All of the local "Holier than thou" and "Better than you" are horrified! Not just because the chocolat is so sweet and decadent, or even that it is Lent, but because the "all-seeing Miseur le Count" says it is sinful and bad, and nobody has the courage to go up against the Aristocrats who still rule in Europe. It could just as easily been 1850, but it is the 1950's instead. A mysterious woman and her child literally "blow into town on a North wind. Very much a made for a European market movie, Chocolat, is sure to enjoy. An intelligent, exquisitely filmed fable that deals with the idea of 20th Century paganism rising up against a closed-minded church and a persevering aristocracy, CHOCOLAT is enjoyable, romantic, and entertaining, with affecting performances by both its stars and its supporting actors (Lena Olin and Johnny Depp.) However, Vianne and her daughter are resented by the conservative mayor, the Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), and by the pious Caroline (Carrie-Anne Moss), who has disowned her own spirited mother (Judi Dench, who plays Vianne's landlady), refusing the elderly woman access to her beloved grandson.This touching fairy tale, based on the novel by Joanne Harris, was filmed on location in rural France. Her good-natured, honorable personality and psychic ability (she can predict what kind of sweets best suit each person, and magically cures each of them of their particular maladies) make her as irresistible as her delectable treats. Vianne is soon the talk of the town: an unwed mother who declines to go to church and opens up a chocolate shop in the midst of Lent. When a strong North wind blows through town, it brings the vivacious and mysterious Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol). It is the late 1950s, but it might as well be the late 1850s in a small French town where everyone behaves as they should (supposedly), and attends church regularly.
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