AlexLovesKissing In Denis' debut film, she explores the social dynamics of a French household during the closing days of colonial rule in West Africa. The bulk of the film is seemingly the flashback of a young adult French woman returning to her childhood African home after living abroad - though this perspective doesn't entirely hold during certain scenes. As an American moviegoer - and thus quite familiar with the baggage of colonial rule - I wasn't surprised by any of the themes suggested/addressed by this picture: second class citizenship, interracial lust, varying degrees of loathing of the colonists toward the ruled, the inescapable resentment that the ruled have towards the colonists. Consequently, I found the film less than compelling. Though competently told, the story shed no new light the complexities of colonial rule - the suggestion that the problems of colonial rule are visible in the microcosm of a household as in the macrocosm of a revolution is nothing new. However, these politics were handled in a minimalist fashion that gave the movie a relaxed if occasionally boring pacing - a pacing that was bearable thanks to DP Robert Alazraki beautifully capturing Cameroon's landscape. I quietly recommend this movie if no other reason than the fact that it is the first film from a major new French auteur.

basimmahmood295 To whom it may concern:After having read a few reviews and just seen the film, these are my thoughts. I agree that the film portrays and plays off of the white/black dynamic, but to be more precise, I think that it reinforces the exotification of black and African men by white women. Protee is definitely a stoic character in the movie, but to say that that makes the movie good is not necessarily justification enough for me. Rather, I was more concerned than anything that at the end of the movie I was so moved by a production that in retrospect perpetuates stereotypes about the black/white dynamic and does little, if anything, to empower any of the black characters. Basically, I feel like it only romanticizes the the relationship of Aimee and Protee thereby giving implicit acceptance to the power dynamic inherent between the two of them. As I said earlier, however, it did "move me." But as I earlier, it was the production; the acting, rather than the story itself, that moved me, and to confuse these two is what concerned me most. I'm sure there are a lot of "well-meaning" people out there who liked this movie, and it does have good acting, but all I have to say is switch the characters around-make Aimee the character in a position of less power and give that power to Protee and all of a sudden it's going to be a much less acceptable, interesting, and realistic to a lot of people. It's a good story, apparently semi-autobiographical, but skews the race picture much to the satisfaction of the privileged folks who are paying to see it.

caspian1978 The box cover read nothing but how this film was full of passion and erotic over tones. Over tones? There weren't any Under tones let alone over tones! Yes, the story has obvious moments of forbidden passion between the French woman and the "black" slave / servant, but nothing goes beyond that.The entire movies leads up to expectations and then goes nowhere. If you look close, you can see moments of symbolism, but nothing terrific. Chocolat isn't French New Wave, but it is a french film. Besides there being a number of French characters in the film that nobody can relate with, you got a French Housewife that has nothing else to do but order her "slave" around. I said it before and I'll say it again, Chocolat has as much passion that your average funeral does. Whether for 1988 or 2004, you need moments of sexual tension other than a simple touch to be considered exotic for the audience.

Hunky Stud Some good movies keep you in front of the TV, and you are dying to see the result.This movie does not have highs and lows. It simply describes a young girl's family life in Africa. People come and go, the weather and the background are all the same.