Chocolat Essay
In the 2001 film ‘chocolat’ directed by Lasse Hallström, based on a novel by the same name written by Joanne Harris, follows the story of travelers Vianne and her daughter Anouk as they arrive in a small isolated french town that runs on tradition and whose main value is ‘tranquillité.’ They set up a chocolaterie in the middle of the lenten period, an act which is not welcomed by the townspeople who do not welcome change and learn only from the past. In the chocolate festival scene, Hallström uses colour, music, and character development to show the audience how change has impacted the characters and the atmosphere of the town.
Lasse Hallström uses colour in the chocolate festival scene to show the outcome of major change. An example of colour …show more content…
One character that Lasse Hallström shows major development in is the character of Comte de Reynaud, the town’s mayor. The Comte is the leader of the small town and bases all rules on the past and traditions. He frowns on any form of change and tries to exterminate it as soon as possible, especially when this change breaches tradition. When Vianne arrives, she brings major change, trying to set up a chocolaterie in the middle of lent. The Comte tries all he can do to stomp out this change, and rebellion of tradition. The audience is shown from the very start how traditional the Comte is, and can also see how much he dislikes having change interfering with the people of his town, and changing how they think and act, something that used to only be controlled by him and the past and traditions. Throughout the film the audience watches the Comte as he tries to get rid of Vianne and her chocolate, the audience can see how he needs to revert everything to back how it was without Vianne. Finally, the Comte breaks, going on a rampage, breaking all of the chocolaterie’s displays. After accidentally tasting some chocolate on his lip, you watch his resolve change, as he realises that sometimes you need change to make things better. Later in the chocolate festival scene, the audience can see the full extent of the character development of the Comte, as
Lasse Hallström uses colour in the chocolate festival scene to show the outcome of major change. An example of colour …show more content…
One character that Lasse Hallström shows major development in is the character of Comte de Reynaud, the town’s mayor. The Comte is the leader of the small town and bases all rules on the past and traditions. He frowns on any form of change and tries to exterminate it as soon as possible, especially when this change breaches tradition. When Vianne arrives, she brings major change, trying to set up a chocolaterie in the middle of lent. The Comte tries all he can do to stomp out this change, and rebellion of tradition. The audience is shown from the very start how traditional the Comte is, and can also see how much he dislikes having change interfering with the people of his town, and changing how they think and act, something that used to only be controlled by him and the past and traditions. Throughout the film the audience watches the Comte as he tries to get rid of Vianne and her chocolate, the audience can see how he needs to revert everything to back how it was without Vianne. Finally, the Comte breaks, going on a rampage, breaking all of the chocolaterie’s displays. After accidentally tasting some chocolate on his lip, you watch his resolve change, as he realises that sometimes you need change to make things better. Later in the chocolate festival scene, the audience can see the full extent of the character development of the Comte, as