Delicious Movie Night

The hubs and I watched the Academy Award nominated (2000) movie Chocolat last night in honor of this month’s experiment. Hubs had never seen it, and it had been many years since I had. Both of us gave it an enthusiastic two thumbs-up! Of course the most delicious element of the movie was….Johnny Depp. You thought I was going to say the chocolate, didn’t you?

Okay, you got me, the chocolate is delicious, too. And it is definitely not part of the back story; it’s front and center in every scene, driving each plotline to an ultimately uplifting conclusion. One character, on death’s doorstep, decides to live out her last moments by truly living it up (chocolate features prominently). Another character finally learns to live, after giving in to his cravings (chocolate of course is one of them). In what other movie does a chocolatier have the power to toss a whole uptight town on its ear, then rearrange it into something kinder and less judgmental? (The chocolatier is Juliette Binoche, so she looks beautiful doing it, too.)

The chocolate itself should have at least been nominated for Best Supporting Actress/Actor? The shots of the chocolate being cooked, drizzled into cups (many scenes feature melted chocolate drunk from a cup; this ain’t no Swiss Miss), formed into delicate truffles, sifted over nuts…. It’s serious chocolate porn, and it will make you crave it. (Sorry about that experiment, Dr. Albers!)

In addition, there’s gorgeous cinematography. The musical score is fabulous. Oh, just watch it, will you? If you somehow missed it when it came out, or if you haven’t seen it in years, do yourself a favor and set aside a couple hours some night. But do keep that chocolate out of reach.