The Cinematic World of Culinary & Culture

It's without a doubt that Vianne Rocher is "the falcon" of Chocolat. She enters our story as a literal force of nature to be reckoned with. Just like her chocolates, Vianne is a mixture of many things; two of those things being of both French & Mayan descent. Some other important aspects of Vianne's character is that we see her cook and heal throughout the film. Because of Vianne and her cooking & healing, we see the French town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes transform from drab and subdued to vibrant and full of life.    The role that I want to focus on is her role as a cook. Without cooking, we wouldn't have a story! Vianne's job as a cook allows for her to heal & help the villagers around her because she heals through cooking. When she first opens her shop, we see the townspeople reluctant to venture into her store. She convinces her first customer, Yvette Marceau, to by a bag of unrefined cocoa nibs from Guatemala that will waken the passion be...

Food is the most coherent, articulate, persuasive, and powerful speaker within the entirety of  Como Agua Para Chocolate. Communication is a very important aspect of this film. The very first thing that we, the audience see is an onion being chopped as we hear the narrator explaining a trick to prevent crying from onions (we find out later how important this moment truly is). Although we've seen food being used as a means of communication in previous films- such as Mostly Martha - this film best executes the idea that food can speak louder than words, especially when words can't be spoken amongst main characters.    The first time we see an example of this is when Tita and Nacha are preparing the Chabela Cake for Pedro & Rosaura's wedding. We can see how absolutely torn up Tita is by this, despite knowing Pedro's true intentions. She is succumbed by anguish and nausea that she begins to cry into the batter. The next day at the wedding, we witness Tita's grie...