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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Specs |
- Widescreen 1.78:1
- 16:9 Enhanced
- Dual Layer (RSDL )
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Languages |
- English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
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Subtitles |
English - Hearing Impaired |
Extras |
- 7 Deleted scenes
- Teaser trailer - The Wedding Planner, The English Patient
- Theatrical trailer
- Audio commentary - Director Lasse Hallstrom plus producers David Brown, Kit Golden & Leslie Holleran
- Cast/crew biographies
- Featurette - Costumes of Chocolat
- Animated menus
- Awards/Nominations - The Pleasures of Chocolat
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Chocolat |
Miramax/Roadshow Entertainment .
R4 . COLOR . 117 mins .
M . PAL |
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Contract |
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No matter how you say it or spell it - chocolate, chocolat, choklad, coklat, chocolade, chokore-to, chocola, cioccolato, chokolade, suklaa, schokolad, sjokolade, shokora, schokolade, chocky, manna from heaven - it all means one thing, sheer yumminess. So a film taking the name Chocolat certainly has a lot to live up to... Now let's see - we have a classy director, Lasse Hallstrom, responsible for such classics as My Life As a Dog and ABBA: The Movie (whoever just laughed go and stand in the corner heathen, right now!) We also have an adaptation of Joanne Harris' fabulous novel of the same name that does take a few liberties here and there. Finally we have a simply incredible ensemble cast - the divine Juliette Binoche, the incredible Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Leslie Caron, Carrie Anne Moss and more. So what's it all about then? One winter's day in 1959, a sly northern wind accompanies two visitors to a rather drab and quiet French village. This little countryside town was one of abstinence, penitence and mundane tranquillity, until the arrival of these two Little Red Riding Hood-like figures - the free-spirited Vianne and her young daughter Anouk - bringing with them a splash of colour and temptations to ignite hitherto unexplored passions. Renting an old patisserie from Armande Voizin, a crotchety and potty-mouthed - but refreshingly frank - old woman, Vianne sets about converting it into the Chocolaterie Maya, an outlet for her delicious cocoa-based treats. Amidst the abstaining period of lent, the rather devout mayor, le Comte de Reynaud, is none too impressed with this tantalising invasion, and sets about a campaign to discredit this radical bad influence, or Satan's helper, by near any means possible. Not everybody supports him, however, and Vianne finds herself gradually winning over the townsfolk with her almost magical ways. "I have a knack for guessing peoples' favourites. These are your favourites." |
Bookend narrated much like a fairytale by a grown-up Anouk, Chocolat manages to deftly weave the tales of many of the village's inhabitants into one neat, captivating and beguiling story. There just isn’t any point in giving much more away than what's mentioned above, as this film is much better left to be like one of those assortment boxes of chockies that you grab at wildly in the dark, never knowing what pleasant surprise you'll end up with.
Video |
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Contract |
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Chocolat oozes onto our screens in an almost-the-same-as-the-cinema ratio of 1.78:1, and is anamorphically enhanced. Generally the vision has a delightful sumptuousness to it, it's fairly sharp, but not razor sharp - possessing a certain pleasant, slightly soft texture that fits the story superbly - much of which is due to the production design. Colour is an integral part of the story - the town and its inhabitants are generally all rather dull and drab, until Vianne and her wardrobe appear and things brighten up considerably, with no over-saturation or bleeding problems (well, the latter does apply to a nose at one point, but that's not an issue with the transfer). Shadow detail is more than adequate in those scenes where it becomes relevant. There aren't really any majorly icky nuts to spoil its taste, save for some fairly rare small white specks every so often, and a couple of very minor shimmery effects cropping up on occasions. The only crunchy frog in the assortment is the layer change - an absolute clunker which would have to go down in history as one of the more noticeable ones, occurring abruptly right at one of the loudest points in the film.
Audio |
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Contract |
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The 5.1 mix that accompanies Chocolat is quite superb, in no small part due to the music - which we'll get to in a moment. Movies such as this generally don’t call surround set-ups into much in the way of aural excitement, however here they are used here to subtly bolster the score and a few incidental effects, and the subwoofwoof gets to do its stuff valiantly on the rare occasions it is called for. Dialogue is synched perfectly and is crystal clear throughout, with the various soft French accents posing little problems in the understanding department. Now - that music. Rachel Portman has composed a simply magical score, with particularly discernable themes popping up for various characters throughout. Much use is made of rather haunting flute melodies and solo strings in the more traditional, classical-styled arrangements, and then things jump into almost whimsical territory with some quite spirited, Latin-influenced works.
Extras |
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Contract |
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Overall |
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Contract |
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To dismiss Chocolat as simply an art film, or heaven forbid a "chick flick", is to do it - and indeed yourself - a great disservice. It is an often heart warming, always entertaining and subtly humorous dramatic tale not a million miles away from the likes of The Princess Bride in spirit, and hey - it even has pirates! The disc gives us near-pristine vision and a scrummy 5.1 soundtrack, and a decent enough serve of extras to provide very good value. Whilst not as necessary to sustain life as its edible namesake, Chocolat really is a special treat all of its own, and very much worth taking the time to savour. Yummy!
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1020
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And I quote... |
"A special treat all of its own, and very much worth taking the time to savour..." - Amy Flower |
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Review Equipment |
- DVD Player:
Pioneer DV-535
- TV:
Sony 68cm
- Receiver:
Onkyo TX-DS494
- Speakers:
DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
- Centre Speaker:
DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
- Surrounds:
DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
- Subwoofer:
DTX Digital 4.8
- Audio Cables:
Standard RCA
- Video Cables:
Standard Component RCA
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