Chocolat

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance and Adaptation
Runtime: 2 hrs, 1 min
Rating: PG-13 for a scene of sensuality and some violence.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Lena Olin, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss
Synopsis: Vianne Rocher and her 6-year-old daughter move to a small village in southern France, near Toulouse, and open a chocolate shop across from the church, just as the town is preparing to observe Lent. The parish priest is horrified, especially since Vianne keeps her tempting shop open on Sundays. In time, the arrival of the mother/daughter team and their shop transforms the conservative and religious locals into open-minded, fun-loving people.


This movie has become a favorite and a yearly classic to watch at Easter, so I was surprised as I watched it this time to have discovered a new insight in the movie. There are so many things that can be touched on in this movie, but as I've mentioned before, when interpreting a "parable" it is important to focus on only one aspect, and this time I want to focus on something new.


Seeing as the name of the movie is Chocolat and one of the main characters is in fact chocolate, I want to focus on this aspect of the movie. I want us to think of the chocolate (yes, all of it) as Jesus. Now, I'm not going to try to make comparisons between chocolate and Jesus, rather I want to focus on the role of chocolate in the movie and the idea of Christ.

When Jesus came to Earth, He came into a world that was "pious" and "religious", much like the chocolate. Also like the chocolate, Jesus caused quite a stir and the religious leaders of His day tried to get rid of Him.

There is one scene in particular that I want to focus on in this comparison. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Near the end of the movie, the Comte de Reynaud (Molina)--the pious mayor who has spent the entire 40 days of Lent fasting--has reached his breaking point and believes that he has to take drastic measures in order to make sure that the chocolate (and it's maker) leave his town. So, he sneaks into the chocolate shop and, using a letter opener, begins hacking and stabbing the beautiful chocolate sculptures decorating the front window display. In what one could call a providential instant, a small piece of chocolate lands on the Comte's lip as he's destroying the display. He briefly touches it with his finger and then his tongue, as he does, something inside of him breaks and he begins to devour the chocolate that he was just destroying.

Watching this scene, I was struck with how similar it was to the moment that Christ enters a life. All too often we get caught up with the dos and don'ts of religion and lose sight of Christ's counter-culture attitude. But when we come into personal contact with Him, when we allow Him to touch our lives in a miraculous way, nothing will ever be the same. We just need to stop fighting Him, stop trying to destroy what He came to rebuild, and indulge in Him.