In the movie Chocolat, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, a quaint, tranquil village nestled in rural France is depicted. Everybody is peacefully sitting in church on a breezy Sunday morning: respectful and civil. Everything is quiet and normal. On this particular Sunday everything is about to change. It is the first day of Lent, a forty day period prior to Easter when one gives up anything tempting, such as sweets. As expected by the Mayor, Comte de Reynaud, everybody is ready to observe Lent. But, a woman named Vienne and her nine-year-old daughter Anouk move into the town on this very Sunday and open up a chocolaterie, which tests the townspeople’s devotion to Lent. Comte de Reynaud does not approve of Vienne opening the chocolaterie during Lent and politely asks her to close her shop. The mayor is upset and threatened because he does not want people to be tempted by Vienne’s un-traditional ways. Comte de Reynaud feels the chocolaterie will cause the members of this town to disobey Lent by sparking people’s curiosity to explore temptations. This action, in turn, is disobeying the mayor and his morals because he is the one enforcing Lent; more so then even the priest! The chocolate Vienne sells represents indulgence in this tranquil, religious town.

Many know to avoid the chocolate shop because of lent, like the old man with the dog and the widow. But others can’t resist. One of the first visitors is a woman who enters only with the intention to look. While chatting with Vienne, she complains about dried up relationship with her husband. Vienne has just the trick and gives (without pay) her a special type of chocolate that immediately fixed the couple’s problem. During lent, obviously, eating chocolate and having sex are two temptations that should be avoided.

Next, a woman named Armande visits. She, like Vienne, is not religious and does not care what people think of her. She does not participate in Lent and indulges in Vienne’s chocolate. From indulging too much, she has diabetes. Armande’s daughter, Caroline Clairmont, works for Comte de Reynaud. Caroline won’t let Armande see her son, Luc, because she feels Armande will be a bad influence on him and introduce him to the temptations of life (though he should be following lent). When Vienne opens her chocolate shop, Luc finds his way in and begins to spend time with his grandmother. He is giving into the temptations of chocolate and disappointing his mother.

Towards the end of the movie, Comte de Reynaud breaks down. He is nervous, threatened, and feels like he is loosing control of everybody in the town. Vienne’s untraditional ways are more appealing to people than his traditional ways are. His desire to regulate the town during lent and deprive himself of everything enjoyable causes him to have psychotic melt town. On the last night of Lent, it seems he can’t take it any more. He secretly enters into Vienne’s chocolate shop. As he is kicking and knocking over all of Vienne’s window display (composed of chocolate) out of frustration, a small piece of chocolate lands in his mouth. From here, he breaks down. He eats the chocolate. He gave into a temptation.

The chocolate represents temptation, but the ability to balance temptation and deprivation. It is clear that if one indulges into a temptation too much, like Armande, the results can be scary. Armande passes away because of her diabetes. She lived her life doing what she wanted, and she was happy. But it seemed throughout the movie she was missing something, her grandson Luc. She was used to having what she wanted whenever she wanted so she became very upset during the parts when she could not win Luc (Caroline’s rules), she becomes upset and tries to fill the gap with other indulgences, like chocolate and alcohol. Chocolate and alcohol are incredibly detrimental to someone with diabetes. Armande’s need to always have what she wants caused her death. Contrastingly, Comte de Reynaud completely deprives himself of the things he wants. He purges any desire from his life; including missing his wife who let him. He becomes obsessive in trying to make the rest of the town feel the same way about Lent. When he can’t, he pretty much goes melts down and binges. So, Vienne’s chocolate shop teaches this cozy French village that it is okay to indulge every once and a while. Too much or too little indulgence is what ends up hurting people in the end. Because there has never been anyone like Vienne or anything like the chocolaterie in this town before, the townspeople learn by example about balance and moderation.