Review of Chocolat (2000) by Dawn L — 19 Apr 2012

I've always wanted to do a review on this movie!

There are plenty of people who wonder why this is one of my favorite movies, most likely due to it's strong anti-Catholic message. Well, quite plainly, I don't see this movie as anti-Catholic at all. In fact, I think some Catholics need to pay particular attention to it.

I must begin by giving credit to Rachel Portman for composing a magnificent score. It's one of my favorites, and the piece that plays just as the River Rats make their introduction into the story is one of my favorite ever composed.

In this film, the Catholics are portrayed as self-righteous, uncharitable people bent on excluding whomever they deem immoral, mainly Vianne, and the River Rats who appear later. Ironically, it's Vianne who is the charitable one, the only one who welcomes everyone, who does not judge those around her, and bears with the self-righteous Catholics with patience.

This story creatively takes place against the backdrop of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Vianne opens a chocolaterie during the Lenten fast. I'm sure there are plenty of viewers who are as outraged as the God-fearing townspeople at Vianne's audacity. The way I see it, she wasn't pulling people into her shop with a fishing pole; they had the choice to go in or not.

Vianne does not attend Church, and immediately, she is painted in a poor light by the townspeople, who go around gossiping about her "poor, illigitimate child.".

Unfortunately, I have seen this sort of self-righteous attitude in some Catholics out there, especially in those who condemn our Protestant brothers. It is the most contrary attitude I've ever witnessed. I see this movie as a message to such people, to show them just how silly they really are at times.

The priest, who for most of the film is under the influence of the Comte de Reynaud, said it best in the end: "I think that we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include." I think this is something a lot of Catholics need to hear and practice.

The movie ends at Easter: all is forgiven, Vianne is accepted, and, interestingly, the sun comes out. Always at the end of this movie, I feel that, ironically, it is Vianne who shows what it is to be Christian: to love and to accept people, and to forgive. We can all learn from each other: the Catholics from non-Catholics, and vice versa. And in the tradition of the chocolaterie opening during Lent, I think a lot of Catholics need to loosen up a bit, stop condemning people and getting offended all the time, and start thinking and seeing with an open mind.