A young mother and her daughter arrive in a new town. While the town is very conservative, Vianne (Binoche) is quite unconventional. Vianne opens a confectioner’s shop, and as the two newcomers begin to interact with the other villagers, change seems to be in the air, even for Vianne herself when Roux (Johnny Depp) enters her life and her daughter begins to chafe at their vagabond lifestyle.
Change and how we react to it, is a main theme in the movie. Here is a commentary on the film by Samantha Gray on the Spiritual Media Blog.
“…the movie’s theme is one of acceptance and forgiveness. It’s no coincidence that the movie is set in the Lenten season, a time of serious reflection and penitence in the Christian faith. Chocolat is all about the different ways that people confront change in their lives. For the mayor, the change comes in the form of his village which is moving away from the traditions and old ways of the previous decades. His unwillingness to meet that change is personified in his doomed relationship with his never shown wife who’s always mentioned as being “on vacation,” though everyone understands that’s she’s left the mayor. Vianne has to deal with her familiar role as an outcast, but she must also face that fact that her transitory lifestyle isn’t suitable for her daughter Anouk who wants some consistency in her life. The river gypsy Roux must face the prejudice against his lifestyle, whereby people universally view him as untrustworthy and criminal.
There are other major and minor characters in the film that confront similar changes in their lives, and they all meet them in their own way. The movie teaches us that we shouldn’t be closing ourselves off from others because of their differences. Instead, we could be opening our doors to other exactly because they live differently than we do; it’s about understanding that everyone has something to bring to the table that’s worthwhile, whether it’s the traveling chocolatier or the old-fashioned mayor.”
Ron Raitz facilitated this month’s movie discussion group.
Here’s the playsheet for Chocolat: Click Here
