In Lasse Hallstom’s 2000 film, Chocolat, religion is portrayed to be a manipulative, ineffective and an overall negative force for the townspeople. Even from the beginning of the movie, it is apparent that religion dictated every facet of life for these people until Vianne arrived. The sarcastic take on religion is presented in a manner where everyone- even Comte de Reynaud is blinded by what is “the right” or “holy” thing to do. In the case of this town, ignorance and religion go hand in hand because of the ideas acted on behalf of religion.
For example, Josephine’s drunken husband Serge is blinded by religion. In order to “change” Serge, Comte de Reynaud feels that he must spiritually educate the man. After Comte de Reynaud vents to Serge about how distracting and bad the “river rat” travelers are Serge takes action on God’s behalf. The idea of burning these people’s possessions in the name of God and preserving the righteous town is a prime example of the role of religion.
Again, the idea of religion and ignorance going together is seen through the characters foolish actions which are a result of religious ideals. Two scenes in particular displayed the overall ignorance of the characters brainwashed by religion during the movie. First, when a group of children are talking about Vianne and say they hear she is an atheist. Immediately after this statement is made, one of the children asks what an atheist is and none of the children even know what one is, they just know it is bad. As a result, the second scene which is a result from the religious ignorance displayed in the first scene. Vianne’s daughter Anouk is harassed at school because she does not go to church, so she naturally asks her mother if they can just go to church to fit in. Anouk also asks her mother if she is Satin’s helper because she makes chocolate. Obviously, chocolate and horrendous crimes do not go together; just like happiness and religion in Chocolat.
Also, after Vianne first arrives and befriends Josephine she is told, “You don't misbehave here. It's just not done, did you know that? If you don't go to confession, if you don't... dig your flowerbeds, or if you don't pretend, if you don't pretend... that you want nothing more in your life than to serve your husband three meals a day, and give him children, and vacuum under his ass, then... then you're... then you're crazy”. The idea of having this overly structured life undoubtedly stems from religion. The manipulative aspect of religion in Chocolat is presented through characters inability and fear to exercise free will. Almost every character in the movie fears to act in a displeasing manner from the smallest to the largest actions. For example, Père Henri is startled and embarrassed when he is caught singing the famous Elvis song, “Hound Dog” by Comte de Reynaud. Similarly, Guillaume Blerot is initially scared to act on his feelings toward Madame Audel because religion denounces remarriage- which ironically he along with Comte de Reynaud do. On a larger scale, Josephine is scared to break the common trend of society, like she said, “You don’t misbehave here”. Until Josephine breaks away from religion and her husband, however, she is not truly free, nor happy. The director makes a direct pun towards religion when Serge tells Josephine, “We are still married, in the eyes of God” and she replies, “Then he must be blind”. The significance of Josephine’s statement is monumental because it begins change in the town which is contradictory towards religion.
Religion can be seen to be rigid and one dimensional in Chocolat, which explains the ultimate outcome of the townspeople. After enlightened and finally realizing that every aspect of life isn’t predetermined and planned around religion, everyone is much happier. Pere Henri is finally able to finally preach his own sermon where he says, “I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of Our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life, here on Earth. His “kindness”, His “tolerance”... Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think... we've got to measure goodness by what we “embrace”, what we create... and who we include.” The obvious transformation of every character can be seen through this quote of embracing humanity and living the way the Jesus did; which entitled including and helping everyone, especially outcasts.
Chocolat serves to criticize the role of religion in the lives of the townspeople, which is evident through their initial rigid lifestyle. After realizing that religion doesn’t have to dictate every facet of their lives, people come around to doing what they truly desire, not what they are told by religion to do. As the maturity and happiness of each character progresses, the digression of religion is more apparent.