"Chocolat" on BLU RAY – A Review Of The 2000 Lasse Hallstrom Film

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"…Live A Little!" – Chocolat on BLU RAY

Every one of the dry-as-a-leaf townsfolk in Mayor Comte De Reynaud's sleepy French hamlet "...knows their place in the scheme of things..." And if they forget their Christian values preached to them weekly in the stone cold church - the good Mayor is there to give the new young priest of 5 weeks (Hugh O'Connor) a helping hand with his sermons - and thereby get 'their' obedient flock back on the moral straight and narrow. Reynaud also waits patently and penitently for his wife to return from one of her interminable 'trips' - watched over his devoted secretary Caroline (the beautiful Carrie Anne Moss). But perhaps the hard-working and essentially decent Mayor (a fabulous turn by England's Alfred Molina) should just chill out and "measure goodness by what we embrace" - or maybe even recognize the lovely Caroline's devotion as genuine and worthy. But the Comte is too busy being pious and upright for the entire town - to engage in something that life-enhancing and delicious...

Besides that's the least of his carnal worries - because a sly wind is blowing in from the North - bringing with it a voluptuous woman of independent-mind (Juliette Binoche) who is going to open a decadent nay sinful chocolate parlour in Lent - a time of abstinence, reflection and tranquillity. And when this shop "Choclataire Maya" opens - Mayor Reynaud knows deep down in his starched flannel trousers that it will seduce the town - especially the women. And the next thing you know - they'll be shagging their husbands senseless again - leaving the drunken abusive ones behind (Peter Stormare as Serge) - cavorting with travelling river people who play guitars and talk in odd Irish accents (Johnny Depp as Roux) and generally enjoying all manner of lurid sensory pleasure. "It's important to now one's enemy..." the Mayor muses ominously.

Adapted from Joanne Harris' beloved novel by Robert Nelson Jacobs - Lasse Hallstrom's feature film (he also did "The Cider House Rules" - see separate review) garnished five Academy Award nominations - including one for Best Movie. And it's easy to see why. It has a magical and very visual story with fantastically strong parts for women. And it has chocolate - lots and lots of sweets, biscuits, cake and chocolate. You can get fat just looking at this film.

The cast is varied and uniformly superb: French acting and dancing legend Leslie Caron is an elderly town lady admired and longed for by Monsieur Bierot (a lovely show by England's John Wood). There's Judy Dench in full-on spiky mode as the ballsy old biddy Armande (nominated for Supporting Actress - her dialogue titles this review) who rents out the former patisserie to Mademoiselle Vianne (Juliet Binoche in luminous form). Vianne's dreamy daughter Anouk (a delightful Victoire Thivisol) plays with an imaginary kangaroo - but is tired of wandering from town to town with her rootless mother - prone to leaving in an instant when the wind tells her to go.

But as mum's culinary skills with South American cocoa and the dark evil liquid begins to affect the town folk in positive ways - especially a broken lady called Josephine (Lena Olin - who is Lasse Hallstrom's wife in real life) - the wandering Vianne senses that perhaps this hamlet is where her roots should be planted. In fact perhaps the town and its earnest but lost Mayor need her. And there's also the added enticement of that handsome rogue the Deppster to deal with - all gypsy and sexy shirts and dishevelled hair and guitars and good with fixing doors and making her daughter happy. Easy to resist that...eh...

Defaulted to Aspect ratio 1.78:1 - the BLU RAY picture fills the entire screen (no bars bottom or top) - but is a strange mixture of the ordinary and exceptional. I suspect in order to give the movie that slightly dreamy feel - there is a soft focus on a lot of it - and subtle grain is ever present. But there are also moments that are truly beautiful when you least expect it - down by the river at night, the feast to celebrate a 70th birthday in the garden, Alfred Molina trying to turn Serge into a gentleman in his home. It doesn't ever look bad - it's just not as stunning as you'd expect such a sensuous film to be.

Audio is DTS-HD Master Audio Surround 5.1 and Subtitles are in English and English For The Hearing Impaired (a poor showing fro such an International film frankly). The Extras feature all the principal actors as well as legendary Hollywood Producer David Brown (Jaws, The Verdict, A Few Good Men).

"Chocolat" is a classy piece of filmmaking - a sensory uplifting watch with passion truffles, cups of chilli-flavoured hot chocolate and Nipples of Venus.

Give it a nibble you sinners...

"The Cider House Rules" - A Review Of The 1999 Film - Now Reissued On A 2011 Studio Canal BLU RAY.

"…She Was Killed By Secrecy…She Was Killed By Ignorance…"

Lasse Hallstrom's 1999 adaptation of John Irving's 1985 book (of the same name) is a rather lovely little film - that's genuinely been upgraded by BLU RAY. It's not note-perfect as a transfer by any means (soft focus here and there, a bit of grain and blocking too) - but when it's good (which is a lot of the time) - it's really gorgeous to look at.

You notice the improvements especially when the story gets to the home and lands of Olive Worthington and her son Wally (great casting in Kate Nelligan and Paul Rudd). She’s an estate-owning boss and he’s a dashing young Airforce Pilot who is waiting for overseas action in the Second World War. Even the indoor scenes in the live-in hut where all the apple pickers live (the 'Cider House' mentioned in the title) are very clear and at times amazingly so. The faces and clothing of the actors are razor-sharp too (superb cast choices in Delroy Lindo, Erykah Badu, Evan Park, Heavy D, and K. Todd Freeman). So too when Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire’s character) is out walking with Wally’s beautiful and vivacious fiancé Candy Kendall (Charlize Theron) while Wally’s away at war – the shots by the Sea and the nearby lobster fishing port are beautiful to look at.

Acting-wise - there is so much to savour here. A huge part of the film’s heart has to go to touching performances from children - Erik Per Sullivan as the bronchial Fuzzy, Kieran Culkin as the troubled Buster and Paz De La Huerta as the young teenage girl who fancies Homer way too much for her own good. Throw in Kathy Baker and Jane Alexander as elderly nurses with an abundance of unconditional paternal heart - and it feels good the second it opens. The story then moves as Homer does away from the snowbound hills and rivers of Maine to the sunny fields of working orchards in South Carolina.

But the movie belongs to its two principal leads - Michael Caine as Dr. Wilbur Larch and Tobey Maguire as the emotionally stilted orphan boy – Homer Wells (named after a cat and someone whose deep). First up is Caine who is simply sensational. Moving like a force of benevolent kindness amid the cold wooden rooms of “St. Clouds” (a 1930’s and 1940’s Orphanage he runs) – he is pragmatic and practical to the visiting pregnant women who don’t need judgement (dialogue above) but an operation that is illegal. Describing himself as “…a caretaker to many, father to none…” – he mother hen’s over a lively cast of young children abandoned in the big house with an almost casual cruelty. Each hurt child of course longs to be genuinely wanted – to be taken away by childless parents who occasionally come to visit and adopt. The scene where one pretty girl appeals to a couple - so they take her – but leave the rest behind – is heartbreaking. Caine imbibes so many of these difficult moments with a huge humanity - he’s an actor capable of conveying extraordinary compassion and anger – sometimes one after the other. The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 2 – one for Caine as Best Supporting Actor and the other for Best Adapted Screenplay by John Irving.

Tobey Maguire excels too – his performance is full of quiet acceptance at first – but then moves into a longing for a more varied life outside of his mentor’s ‘doctoring’ requirements. Homer’s journey to his own ‘purpose in the world’ is long but convincing. Maguire is very, very good here. Charlize Theron too – not just beautiful - but accomplished. Watch out also for John Irving the Author (adapted the Screenplay too) in a tiny cameo as a Station Master at the beginning (doing his Hitchcock).

The “Making Of” interviews all the principal actors - as well as John Irving on adapting his own book, Stephen King (the Author) on Irving’s writing and Lasse Hallstrom the Director on shooting such a huge book. Its default aspect is 1.2:35 so it has bars top and bottom of the screen - but even stretched to full screen – it still looks great.

“The Cider House Rules” is a warm film – and one I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching. But more importantly - if you’re a fan and have love for this movie’s combined cruelties and charms – then you need to see/own it on BLU RAY.

Highly recommended.

ASPECT:
1.2:35:1 Ratio
SUBTITLES:
English for the Hard-Of-Hearing
EXTRAS:
Making Of “An American Classic”
Deleted Scenes
Trailer