Monday, November 26, 2012

Dreaming of France -- Chocolat

Here's a new weekly France meme. Please join in. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.
Last week my 20-year-old daughter was home from college for the week. I realized that she was missing some vital information from her education. She had never seen the movie Chocolat.
 It has been a long time since I'd seen the movie and even longer since I've read the book. What I remembered about the movie was a woman and her daughter move to a French village and start a chocolate shop. I also remember Johnny Depp was especially luscious. This was still true, but I noticed so much more.
The movie opened on an empty-looking French village with gray stone buildings and cobblestone streets. People poured into a cold stone church while a woman and her little girl in red capes and hoods arrived in town along with a brisk wind. They brought change with them.

What caught my attention this time was the chocolate as it was poured from a pitcher into a cup, or as it was stirred in a big pot, or as the actors bit into each piece of chocolate. The chocolate seemed like the star of the movie -- decadent and sensual.  Juliette Binoche plays the main character Vianne. Throughout the movie, in the direst of situations, her skin looks like porcelain and she wears scooop-necked blouses that show her ivory décolletage. Her face glows with pink on the apples of her cheeks. Vianne seemed so much more alive than anyone else in the movie.
And maybe because I'm older, or mabye because Johnny Depp has received so much more exposure, he didn't wow me this time in Chocolat.
I'm reading one of the sequels to Chocolat right now, Peaches for Father Francis, and  I'm curious about the differences between the book Chocolat and the movie. I may need to read it again.
If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, give them a try.

13 comments:

Sim Carter said...

J'adore the new picture! Gotta go back and redo my post - I'll be back at midnight!

Sim Carter said...

Okay I'm back with my own Dreaming of France post on the Les Miz screening and Q and A. I changed to your new graphic which is stunning.

I haven't read the book; I think I tried to watch the movie once and got distracted and never got back to it. But your descripion was so yummy I'll have to give it another whirl. I guess i should read the book first, eh?

Louise said...

I know that I read the book, and watched the movie way back when, but I don't remember it very well either. Perhaps I should rewatch it too.

Paulita said...

Sim, Thanks for playing along. The color on my computer is off, so I couldn't see the gaps in the other photo too well except when on other computers. I just made this illustration from a photo my hubby took in 2006. Nice angle, huh? And nice post on Les Miz even though the rest of us can't see it yet!
Louise, Thanks for playing along. I hadn't heard of that Griff Rhys Jones Greatest Cities in the World television series before. I'm going to watch it.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

I linked, ma chère, but I cannot see the link as before.??

I am having little pangs of regret that I will probably not see the Paris Christmas decorations and windows this year for the first time in 6 years. I am counting on my friends to show many store windows!

Bises,
Genie

Paulita said...

Genie, Your link is there. I just added the wrong "Mister Linky" this time so you have to actually click on it to see the names. I'll get it right next week -- Promise.

Paulita said...

Genie, I have never been in France at Christmastime. I'll mark it down as one of my goals. I'd love to be there to see all the decorations.
I have been there at Easter. The little chocolate mice are a nice change from chocolate bunnies.

Esme said...

I loved this movie-I have been to this little village.

Sim Carter said...

I was thinking you might want to do a special Summer in France meme where everyone gets to share what they would do with a summer in France. I've only been to France a couple of times but people like you and Louise practically live there. I think it would be fun to read your dream itinerary.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Love the book and the movie.

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