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Chocolat: A Screenplay
When a mysterious stranger, Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche), and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, nobody can imagine the impact they will have on this old-fashioned, buttoned-up community. Within days Vianne opens a very unusual chocolate shop filled with mouthwatering confections. Her uncanny ability to perceive her customers' private desires and satisfy them with just the right confections coaxes the villagers into abandoning themselves to temptation and happiness.Reynaud (Alfred Molina), the self-appointed leader of this town rooted in tradition, is shocked that Vianne is tempting the parishioners with her delicacies. Fearing it will ruin his town, Reynaud pits himself against the beautiful chocolatiere. But when another stranger arrives, the handsome Roux (Johnny Depp), and joins Vianne in her quest to liberate the town, a dramatic confrontation arises between those who prefer the ways of the past and those who revel in their newly discovered taste for pleasure.
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 21, 2025
Chocolat, based on the novel by Joanne Harris
8.6 out of 10
Chocolat has been one of the best films of the early 2000s.
It was nominated for five Oscars, including for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading and Supporting Roles and Best Screenplay.
There are also Golden Globes, BAFTAs and other nominations and trophies.
Furthermore, the narrative is compelling, the characters interesting and the acting is excellent.
Juliette Binoche, nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe and other awards, is excellent as Vianne Rocher.
This is the heroine who opens a Chocolate shop in a French village populated mostly by wondrous people and some nefarious characters.
The Compte de Reynaud aka the always remarkable Alfred Molina is the austere, somewhat masochistic and uneelected, unofficial leader of the place.
He abstains from almost any pleasure, including jam and rather sordid foods, until he would go on a rampage eating massive quantities of chocolate when he can no longer resist temptation.
His religious views are not just rigid and antiquated, bit outright dangerous and fundamentalist, until something happens to change this.
He protects the vicious Jean-Marc Drou, who beats his wife and starts a fire, thinking that his spiritual mentor, the count, had wanted it.
The film is a subtle, often amusing take on bigotry, exaggeration, hypocrisy, sending the message that love, honesty and virtue might win the day.
There are many splendors, such as the scene where the priest thinks he is alone in the garden and sings an Elvis Presley rock hit and...dances in the manner of that star...
Only to be spotted by the local Torquemada, the count.
This High Inquisitor is himself caught in a ridiculous posture.
Furious with Vianne and the temptations of her shop, opened as an act of defiance as he sees it, just before Lent, he breaks in and starts destroying the Chocolat figures, small sculptures and everything around them.
As he committed this damage, sweet, delightful compositions land on his lips.
And he cannot resist!
The Horseman of the Apocalypse eats the Chocolat until he falls asleep at the scene of the crime, with smudge on his face.
8.6 out of 10
Chocolat has been one of the best films of the early 2000s.
It was nominated for five Oscars, including for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading and Supporting Roles and Best Screenplay.
There are also Golden Globes, BAFTAs and other nominations and trophies.
Furthermore, the narrative is compelling, the characters interesting and the acting is excellent.
Juliette Binoche, nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe and other awards, is excellent as Vianne Rocher.
This is the heroine who opens a Chocolate shop in a French village populated mostly by wondrous people and some nefarious characters.
The Compte de Reynaud aka the always remarkable Alfred Molina is the austere, somewhat masochistic and uneelected, unofficial leader of the place.
He abstains from almost any pleasure, including jam and rather sordid foods, until he would go on a rampage eating massive quantities of chocolate when he can no longer resist temptation.
His religious views are not just rigid and antiquated, bit outright dangerous and fundamentalist, until something happens to change this.
He protects the vicious Jean-Marc Drou, who beats his wife and starts a fire, thinking that his spiritual mentor, the count, had wanted it.
The film is a subtle, often amusing take on bigotry, exaggeration, hypocrisy, sending the message that love, honesty and virtue might win the day.
There are many splendors, such as the scene where the priest thinks he is alone in the garden and sings an Elvis Presley rock hit and...dances in the manner of that star...
Only to be spotted by the local Torquemada, the count.
This High Inquisitor is himself caught in a ridiculous posture.
Furious with Vianne and the temptations of her shop, opened as an act of defiance as he sees it, just before Lent, he breaks in and starts destroying the Chocolat figures, small sculptures and everything around them.
As he committed this damage, sweet, delightful compositions land on his lips.
And he cannot resist!
The Horseman of the Apocalypse eats the Chocolat until he falls asleep at the scene of the crime, with smudge on his face.
May 24, 2012
The movie adaptation is recommended to all those who are in love with a piece of Chocolate.
I never watched this movie, let alone Joanne Harris' novel where the flick is adapted. That is why my mind has the liberty to imagine the setting and to reflect on the script and to picture the characters to the story.
Chocolat is a 2000 romance film directed by Lasse Hallström, the guy behind Cider House Rules, Casanova and Hachiko. Adapted by screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat tells the story of a young mother named Vianne Rocher, who arrives with her young daughter Anouk in the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. Vianne, an expert chocolatier, arrived with her daughter in the middle of 1959 and opens La Chocolaterie Maya - a chocolate store - just in time for the Lent. Residents and their mayor Comte Paul de Reynaud stictly adheres to the tradition, thus thought that the opening of the store as a radical move . Added with the odd Mayan urns, statues, and not going to church, she is implied to be a witch travelling from one place to another, obeying to the orders of the Northern Wind.
At the start of the story people thought of her as an unusual but as the day passes she has gained some loyal customers to the chocolate store. One of the first to fall under the spell of Vianne and her confections is Armande, her elderly, eccentric landlady. Armande laments that her cold, devoutly-pious daughter Caroline will not let her see her grandson Luc because she is a "bad influence". Thanks to the store - Luc and his grandmother formed a friendship and an inseparable bond. Josephine, who is being abused by her alcoholic husband Serge, becomes her helper. Roux, a gypsy who arrived and camped on the outskirts of the village, became Vianne's friend and lover (in the end). Reynaud, considering the arrival of these characters as a source of breaking the tradition, is willing to do whatever it takes to get them out of town, telling the message that they are not welcome by sending out pamphlets of BOYCOTT IMMORTALITY .
I am happy to read this book / screenplay just in time for our Lent. Set with the same season, it is for the reader to reflect that while there are traditions embedded in our society in contemplating for the hardships of our God, this composition helped us to see the humanity of it. We do not eat meat, we fast, we pray religiously - but what of all this if we cannot maintain our promise to our heavenly father? We are to be true of ourselves, and our God knows that we are human - we have the freewill and the potential to influence ourselves and others.
AND I LOVE CHOCOLATE! YEY! :D
I never watched this movie, let alone Joanne Harris' novel where the flick is adapted. That is why my mind has the liberty to imagine the setting and to reflect on the script and to picture the characters to the story.
Chocolat is a 2000 romance film directed by Lasse Hallström, the guy behind Cider House Rules, Casanova and Hachiko. Adapted by screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat tells the story of a young mother named Vianne Rocher, who arrives with her young daughter Anouk in the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. Vianne, an expert chocolatier, arrived with her daughter in the middle of 1959 and opens La Chocolaterie Maya - a chocolate store - just in time for the Lent. Residents and their mayor Comte Paul de Reynaud stictly adheres to the tradition, thus thought that the opening of the store as a radical move . Added with the odd Mayan urns, statues, and not going to church, she is implied to be a witch travelling from one place to another, obeying to the orders of the Northern Wind.
At the start of the story people thought of her as an unusual but as the day passes she has gained some loyal customers to the chocolate store. One of the first to fall under the spell of Vianne and her confections is Armande, her elderly, eccentric landlady. Armande laments that her cold, devoutly-pious daughter Caroline will not let her see her grandson Luc because she is a "bad influence". Thanks to the store - Luc and his grandmother formed a friendship and an inseparable bond. Josephine, who is being abused by her alcoholic husband Serge, becomes her helper. Roux, a gypsy who arrived and camped on the outskirts of the village, became Vianne's friend and lover (in the end). Reynaud, considering the arrival of these characters as a source of breaking the tradition, is willing to do whatever it takes to get them out of town, telling the message that they are not welcome by sending out pamphlets of BOYCOTT IMMORTALITY .
I am happy to read this book / screenplay just in time for our Lent. Set with the same season, it is for the reader to reflect that while there are traditions embedded in our society in contemplating for the hardships of our God, this composition helped us to see the humanity of it. We do not eat meat, we fast, we pray religiously - but what of all this if we cannot maintain our promise to our heavenly father? We are to be true of ourselves, and our God knows that we are human - we have the freewill and the potential to influence ourselves and others.
AND I LOVE CHOCOLATE! YEY! :D
December 13, 2012
Con molto piacere, ho visto il film tratto da questo romanzo. Naturalmente non poteva essere "assolutamente" fedele al libro, tuttavia ha mantenuto lo spirito e la leggerezza di quest ultimo.
Si narra di VIanne Rocher e sua figlia Anouk, e del loro arrivo in un villaggio della Francia. La loro comparsa porta scompiglio nel piccolo bigotto paesino, specialmente quando Vianne apre una cioccolateria proprio durante la Quaresima. Si intrecciano così le vite di madre e figlia con Josephine Muscat, la quale trova la forza di ribellarsi al marito violento e diventa amica e aiutante di Vianne, Armand, padrona di casa che ama fare di testa sua, lo zingaro Roux, che entrerà nel cuore di Vianne. Ovviamente non mancano gli antagonisti: Caroline, figlia di Armand, testarda quanto la madre, ma con un carattere freddo e altero, e Reynaud, il curato del paese, intransigente e severo, troppo preso dalla sua missione di redenzione per accorgersi della sua umana fragilità.
L'intero romanzo è scritto in prima persona, sia da Vianne che dal curato. Si viene così a creare un dualismo che permette di vedere entrambe le prospettive dei due rivali. Le parti di Vianne sono percorse dal vento, che la sospinta per tutta la sua vita, fino ad arrivare a Lansquenet, mentre Reynoud dialoga (ma più che un dialogo è un monologo, in quanto non ottiene mai alcuna risposta), col padre, curato prima di lui.
E' una storia molto briosa, che dura tutta una Quaresima, ma che descrive molto bene l'accoglienza che un piccolo paesino riserva alla novità e alla libertà, soprattutto di pensiero.
Si narra di VIanne Rocher e sua figlia Anouk, e del loro arrivo in un villaggio della Francia. La loro comparsa porta scompiglio nel piccolo bigotto paesino, specialmente quando Vianne apre una cioccolateria proprio durante la Quaresima. Si intrecciano così le vite di madre e figlia con Josephine Muscat, la quale trova la forza di ribellarsi al marito violento e diventa amica e aiutante di Vianne, Armand, padrona di casa che ama fare di testa sua, lo zingaro Roux, che entrerà nel cuore di Vianne. Ovviamente non mancano gli antagonisti: Caroline, figlia di Armand, testarda quanto la madre, ma con un carattere freddo e altero, e Reynaud, il curato del paese, intransigente e severo, troppo preso dalla sua missione di redenzione per accorgersi della sua umana fragilità.
L'intero romanzo è scritto in prima persona, sia da Vianne che dal curato. Si viene così a creare un dualismo che permette di vedere entrambe le prospettive dei due rivali. Le parti di Vianne sono percorse dal vento, che la sospinta per tutta la sua vita, fino ad arrivare a Lansquenet, mentre Reynoud dialoga (ma più che un dialogo è un monologo, in quanto non ottiene mai alcuna risposta), col padre, curato prima di lui.
E' una storia molto briosa, che dura tutta una Quaresima, ma che descrive molto bene l'accoglienza che un piccolo paesino riserva alla novità e alla libertà, soprattutto di pensiero.
March 24, 2013
'Try me. . . Test me. . . Tease me. . .
When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock - especially as it is the begining of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer's wares as the ultimate sin.
Suddenly Vianne's shop-cum-café means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne's plans for an faster chocolate festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a 'church not chocolate' battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate éclair?'
My review - I thought the novel was absolutely beautiful, endearing, compelling and the chocolates sounded mouth-wateringly delicious! The movie adaptation was wonderful, the was between the church and Vianne's choclate shop was incredibly clear and the isolation she and her daughter felt from other town folk was most intense, it made me cry. I loved the underlying message though about being strong and never giving up. This is a charming novel that deals with, religion, temptation, love, compassion and understanding.
A truly beautiful novel!x
When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock - especially as it is the begining of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer's wares as the ultimate sin.
Suddenly Vianne's shop-cum-café means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne's plans for an faster chocolate festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a 'church not chocolate' battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate éclair?'
My review - I thought the novel was absolutely beautiful, endearing, compelling and the chocolates sounded mouth-wateringly delicious! The movie adaptation was wonderful, the was between the church and Vianne's choclate shop was incredibly clear and the isolation she and her daughter felt from other town folk was most intense, it made me cry. I loved the underlying message though about being strong and never giving up. This is a charming novel that deals with, religion, temptation, love, compassion and understanding.
A truly beautiful novel!x
January 24, 2016
Amazing that such a rich story of love and transformation can be told in so few words and images.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews