Chocolat
US 2000, Cert 12
Director: Lasse Halström
Star Rating * * * *
 In 1959, Vianne Rocher (Juliette
Binoche) and her daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) arrive in
the traditional French village of Lansquenet where nothing
much has changed for over a century. Vianne sets to work
opening a chocolaterie filled with irresistible confections
and chocolates which awaken the hidden appetites of various
townspeople. She seems to have a knack of perceiving each
individual's hidden desires, but soon develops an enemy in the
shape of righteous local nobleman Comte de Reynaud, Alfred
Molina. Vianne's presence has a profound effect on the lives
of many local people, including 70-year-old libertine Armande,
Judi Dench. When another outsider, Johnny Depp, arrives,
Vianne begins to realise her own secret desire: an urge to
belong.
Chocolat is a comic fable, the
moral being that just one taste of life's pleasures can
profoundly change a person, a relationship, even a town.
Directed by Lasse Halstrom, The Cider House Rules, My Life as
a Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and adapted by Robert
Nelson Jacobs from the novel by Joanne Harris, this romantic
morality tale may be slightly lacking in substance but has an
undeniable magical quality about it - indeed the pleasure of
this film grows over time and isn't easily dismissed. Director
Halström weaves an enchanting tale, which he views ultimately
as a multi-faceted cry for tolerance - not just for indulgent
pleasures like chocolate but tolerance for the wide expanse of
human foibles and quirks.
At the centre of this film is
an outsider, a free-spirited woman whose chocolates arouse
lost passions, but also religious indignation. Chocolate works
well as a metaphor for the liberating powers of pleasure, and
this well-made, deceptively simple movie-with-a-moral
undoubtedly has a broad appeal, transgressing, as chocolate
itself does, cultural and national boundaries. Already multi-BAFTA
nominated, it has now been Oscar nominated in no less than
five major categories: Best Actress in a Leading Role,
Juliette Binoche; Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Dame Judi
Dench; Best Original Score; Best Adapted Screenplay; and Best
Motion Picture. A delectable and soft-centred treat, packed
full of charming performances to warm the heart.
Duke of York's and Odeon from March 2
The Gift
US 2000, Cert. 15
Director: Sam Raimi
Star Rating * * * 1/2
 In the small American town of
Brixton, widowed mother Annie Wilson, Cate Blanchett, gives
psychic readings to neighbours to make ends meet. With three
young children to support she struggles to help troubled
townspeople like tormented car mechanic Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi)
and bruised, abused housewife Valerie (Hilary Swank).
Valerie's violent husband
Donnie (Keanu Reeves) threatens Annie and her children, and
soon afterwards a young woman goes missing, believed murdered.
Desperate for leads, the local police consult Annie, hoping
that her 'gift' will help solve the mystery. Suddenly the
supernatural becomes terrifyingly real when Annie experiences
visions and realises that she must find the killer to save her
own life.
Underpinned by a strong script
by Billy Bob Thornton, apparently the heroine is based on his
mother, and Tom Epperson, this supernatural thriller is a cut
above the average, and a superb example of the genre: tense,
intriguing, fast-paced and scary. A top-notch cast brings the
characters to life, with Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves
particularly impressive - you've never seen Keanu like this
before! While director Sam Raimi proves that his previous hit
suspense thriller A Simple Plan was no fluke.
The cinematography too is
excellent - the setting is deepest, darkest hicksville, with
fog shrouded swamps and gnarled mangroves providing the moody
atmosphere for smouldering redneck resentments. Gothic,
gripping and great fun. www.thegiftmovie.com
Odeon and UGC from March 2
copyright New Insight 2001
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