Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series) |  | Director: Lasse Hallström
Actors: Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss, Aurelien Parent Koenig
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $4.87
as of 2/9/2010 20:26 EST details
You Save: $10.12 (68%)
New (46) Used (47) Collectible (3) from $4.72
Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  430 reviews
Sales Rank: 360
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: D21682D
ISBN: 0788827006
UPC: 078693614507
EAN: 9780788827006
ASIN: B00005K3OT
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Release Date: August 7, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A WOMAN AND HER DAUGHTER OPEN A CHOCOLATE SHOP IN A SMALL FRENCH VILLAGE THAT SHAKES UP THE RIGID MORALITY OF THE COMMUNITY.
Amazon.com
With movies like Chocolat, it's always best to relax your intellectual faculties and absorb the abundant sensual pleasures, be it the heart-stopping smile of chocolatier Juliette Binoche as she greets a new customer, an intoxicating cup of spiced hot cocoa, or the soothing guitar of an Irish gypsy played by Johnny Depp. Adapted by Robert Nelson Jacobs from Joanne Harris's popular novel and lovingly directed by Lasse Hallström, the film covers familiar territory and deals in broad metaphors that even a child could comprehend, so it's no surprise that some critics panned it with killjoy fervor. Their objections miss the point. Familiarity can be comforting and so can easy metaphors when placed in a fable that's as warmly inviting as this one. Driven by fate, Vianne (Binoche) drifts into a tranquil French village with her daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol, from Ponette) in the winter of 1959. Her newly opened chocolatier is a source of attraction and fear, since Vianne's ability to revive the villagers' passions threatens to disrupt their repressive traditions. The pious mayor (Alfred Molina) sees Vianne as the enemy, and his war against her peaks with the arrival of "river rats" led by Roux (Depp), whose attraction to Vianne is immediate and reciprocal. Splendid subplots involve a battered wife (Lena Olin), a village elder (Judi Dench), and her estranged daughter (Carrie-Anne Moss), and while the film's broader strokes may be regrettable (if not for Molina's rich performance, the mayor would be a caricature), its subtleties are often sublime. Chocolat reminds you of life's simple pleasures and invites you to enjoy them. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 430
 Fine February 6, 2010
Florence Williams
I bought this movie as a Christmas gift for my daughter. She really liked it. The service was great. I received it in good time.
An ocean of chocolate delights February 1, 2010
Beverly White (Tidewater, Virginia)
Chocolat ... an overwhelming assault of the senses in perfect harmony with all things good. Innocence and lust, desire and disdain, love and hate, joy and sorry, and all wrapped in a deliciousness one can only acquire by tasting for yourself. I will enjoy this movie over and over as if diving into a bag of chocolates..... Enjoy....
Ordering Chocolat January 24, 2010
A. Elliott (USA)
I received the order very quickly, and in great condition. I was pleased with the price. The film is wonderful.
This is not a chic-flick!! December 30, 2009
Mark Zablotny (Annapolis, Maryland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First off, I like good movies with "guts" - i.e. - if you liked Armageddon (or most of the movies produced today) we are in two different worlds.
Chocolat is not a "girlie" movie. It was very cleverly written and has great acting. Dame Judith Dench was particularly outstanding (my favorite
movie of hers).
The blu-ray version is clear and vibrant.
Superlative movie in every way.
It's a "Food Movie" ... December 13, 2009
Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.)
.... a special genre, a rule unto itself! That's how it tasted to me, anyway ... a pretty confection, like a chocolate-filled eclair, though the chocolate had just a hint of pepper. I might have preferred MORE food, a longer culinary build-up to the birthday feast that becomes the turning-point of the story. It's also a film in the vein of "magic realism" established by Latin American novelists. One can't help comparing it to "Like Water for Chocolate." That comparison does expose the shortcomings of Chocolat: there's not enough of the manic energy, there's nothing quite as funny or as poignant, and the acting isn't half as good. Johnny Depp is more mannequin than Man, more Hollywood pirate than Gallic gypsy. Juliette Binoche plays her role more as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother than as the half-Mayan sorceress she's supposed to be. Only veteran actress Judi Dench shows theatrical savvy -- control of her body, ability to express large emotions with a flicker of her eyes or lips, 'economy' of gesture and posture. She can act!
There are quite a few vitriolic one-star reviews of this film. Many of them compare it unfavorably to the book; since I haven't read the book, I can only suppose they have a point, but I don't much care. The film was a sweet treat, the sort of confection it's best to forget you've eaten lest you feel guilty about your waist-line or waste-time. Other reviews denounce the film as being hostile to religion, specifically to conservative Catholicism. They are correct. Vianne, the chocolate-sorceress, is indeed an atheist, though her stance seems mostly gratuitous. Her 'adversary' in the film is not the puppy priest but the repressed, hypocritical Count. Yes, the film can be taken as anti-clerical, and if you are fundamentally an anti-disestablishmentarian, you'd be wise to skip it.
Perhaps the best part of the film is the photography of the village near Toulouse. Yes, dears, there ARE villages in France just as picturesque and unspoiled as that one, and with any luck you'll find a celebrated gourmet restaurant there. Bon appétit!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 430
|
|
|
