An after Dinner Treat, of Chocolate

After an early dinner, of a cup of tea and two crackers, I settled down to watch a Movie I had wanted to watch, for quite a while.

" CHOCOLAT "

Like the gooey substance it was named after, the experience proved to be a sinfully rich, satisfying treat, with nothing of the guilt that a similar binge of the real stuff,( real chocolate, I mean.), would bring. It was one of the most simplistically stylised films I had ever seen and the visuals seemed to hold you right from the opening titles, The wind-blown, small town France feel gave you goose pimples, the melancholy that the geography of the supposed locales were meant to evoke were evident from the first few frames. Contrast that with shots of dark, sinful, smooth, lip-smacking chocolate being made and presented to the town people and to the audience, in a series of innovative window designs.

Julliete binoche as the mysterious wandering healer, whose chocolaterie is the front through which she supposedly makes magic, was simply outstanding, and Judi Dench, in the cameo as the free willed diabetic, shows us why she is one of the highest rated actors of the time. Alfred Molina as the Villain of the piece brings just the needed amount of ludicrousity to his act, at the same time maintaining the undercurrent of menace.

All the other characters perform with Elan, from the 'American rock loving' young priest to the old dog-lover secretly carrying a torch for a widow who's mourning the husband she lost over 20 years back.

The ensemble cast gives the movie a richness its name suggests, and midway through the film walks in Johnny Depp in a role where he once again makes us realise why Women all over the world swoon at his name, he strikes the right notes as the catalytic element, who gives things the little push required to roll towards the climax.

While outwardly the movie deals with the morals of a small town and how these change, for the better with the advent of a woman whose magical concoctions in the dark-sticky stuff, chocolate, gives the people a peep-hole into their hearts and awakens latent desires, strengths and values in them ,which in turn, helps them in overcoming their own demons and bring about a reform, even in the villainous Mayor, and the end is beautifully summed up by the young priests' Easter day sermon, where he says that the true essence of religion and goodness does not lie in what we condemn or give up but in what we tolerate, embrace and love,

A beautiful movie and a great message for those who want to find it, amidst the visual feast it provides.