“Chocolat” was released in 2000 and directed by Lasse Hallestrom. Despite being an off-beat, unusual film it was critically acclaimed being nominated for 5 Academy Awards and it was also a commercial success grossing over $150 million. “Chocolat” is set in a small, tranquil French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes between Toulouse and Bordeaux. As the narrator at the beginning of the comments “ If you lived in this village, you understood what was expected of you. You knew your place in the scheme of things. And if you happened to forget, someone would help remind you.” Although the village may seem close-knit, well run and peaceful at first, the audience soon learns that the village is more repressed and constrained from the everyday pleasures of life than first appears. This is seen through the protagonist who is a young mother named Vianne who,following in her ancestor’s footsteps, does not stay in one place for very long and chooses to travel from town to town. She brings her 6 year old daughter with her wherever she goes. Also with her she carries with the secret skills of her ancestors who knew the power of the cacoo bean and chocolate,that she uses to let people open up and relax around her especially in the town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes where everyone is very contained and self-disciplined.
The role of religion is very important in the town. At the start of the film we see that the old priest who died has been replaced with a younger priest who has just been ordained. As such the new priest, Pere Henri is easily controlled by the mayor of the town Comte de Reynaud whose family have been in charge of the town for years. The Comte is a devoutly Catholic man (as most of France would have been in 1959 when this film is set), however the Comte feels that his Christian duties are not complete unless he compels everyone else in the village to believe as vigorously as he does. Attendance at Mass in the town is effectively compulsory and one of the reasons why the Comte rejects Vianne when she first arrives is because she refuses to attend Mass on a Sunday. The Comte views it has his job is keep the town and everyone in it in accordance with his own values system. As such he even take sit upon himself to rewrite the sermons of the priest to fit in with the message he would like the town people to live by. The Comte lives by the strict rules of Catholicism and Vianne arrives just as the 40 days of lent are beginning and even worse she decides to open a chocolate shop. Lent is typically seen as a time of restraint and to give the simple pleasures in life up. As such the Comte forces everyone in the village to boycott Vianne’s new chocolate shop because he sees it has offensive to their Lenten objectives. The Compte uses religion to control people and make them relinquish even more of what they enjoy in life. He is self-righteous enough that he sees nothing wrong with forcing his morals on everyone else, regardless of their own opinions. However, while the chocolate is deeply offensive to the Comte he chooses to ignore one of the parishioners in his town who is obviously a violent drunk and he also continues to lie to the people of his town about the whereabouts of his wife, who has clearly left him. In the film Vianne uses the chocolate to free people from their constraints and rid them of the feeling of guilt for enjoying life and its simple pleasures. The chocolate represents temptation-however it is not the typical type of temptation that is usually wrong but this is giving in to something that we want but we are too concerned about the judgments of others to do. We feel that we should feel guilty for giving in, even if deep down we actually don’t feel guilty. The chocolate also represents each town person gaining some of their own personal freedom back from the Comte who has controlled the business of those in town for so long.
The only type of prejudice is not just against Vianne for her polite refusal to attend Mass, many in the town also judge her for being a single mother and showing no shame about it. One fot eh most common traits of the town is an expectation that others apologize for the way they live their lives simply because you don’t agree with it. For example Caroline Clairmont refuses to let her own mother see her grandson Luc because she disagrees with Armande ‘s decision to live her life ignoring the fact that she has diabetes. Most importantly however the town collectively discriminates against the group against the group of travelers who arrive at the riverside and because they see them as unwanted vagrants, most of the town business’ except Vianne refuse to serve them in an attempt to drive them out of town. Eventually the Comte’s protégé- the former drunk- in an attempt to impress the Comte burns the boats of the travelers damaging their livelihoods and endangering lives.