As Good As It Gets

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Films about racism come in a variety of genres and styles. Most are essays in conflict and hardship so it is unusual to find one that is based on circus clowns and laughter. The traditional circus was a mirror of the race and class structures of society and audience response reflected social values. This theme overarches the delightful French film Chocolat (2016) that is based on the true story of the first black-skinned circus entertainer in 19th century Paris.A brief note on the history of clowns might help to see the deeper layers of this film. Dating to Greek and Roman theatre, the popularity of the clown's low-class buffoonery reflects the human need to occasionally step outside of the norms of society. Their costumes and personality codes vary widely from the European harlequin jester or comical fool to the American down-and-out hobo caricature. Traditional circus clowns perform slapstick comedy in pairs: the white-faced clown is the instigator of gags, the red-faced (or Auguste) clown is the victim or fall-guy. With centuries of tradition behind them, it was a cultural shock for French circus audiences to see a black-faced Auguste clown for the first time and terrifying to know that it was not black makeup.It is 1886 and the tired-looking Circus Delvaux is auditioning for acts to restore its fortunes. White clown George Foottit (James Thiérrée) is struggling to find work until he teams up with a former Cuban-negro slave with the stage name of Chocolat (Omar Sy). They quickly become a sensational duo, and the Delvaux circus prospers as crowds flock to see George kick, slap, and humiliate Chocolat. As their fame grows, Chocolat becomes the star celebrity and flaunts his success with flamboyant clothes, expensive car, gambling and substance abuse. Over time, Chocolat grows resentful of the racist taunts and abandons George for a career as a Shakespearean actor. Despite a credible performance as Othello, French audiences cannot accept a black person in serious theatre. With growing gambling debts and ill health, Chocolat ends his career in sadness and despair.There are so many engaging layers in this film. Both co-stars are brilliant in their roles and the detailed period sets exude authenticity. The behind-the-tent circus life is full of unusual and interesting humanity living in convoys of small caravans that move entertainers from town to town. From the perspective of the modern screen-reliant world, it is charming to see the physicality and humour of the lost art of circus slapstick comedy. While today's social conscience finds the blunt racism of a past era repulsive, this film reminds us of the ever-presence of race as a social divider. The appearance of black skin no longer shocks anyone but black talent is still the 'Auguste' in contemporary cinema.This multi-layered film has a nuanced mix of humorous entertainment, historical insight and contemporary relevance. While funny faces, staring eyes, and goofy slapstick struggles to draw loud laughter today, the dark message of Chocolat lies in its portrait of racism masked as humour.

'Chocolat' A review by Deena Padayachee. directed by Roschdy Zem and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. This film is a devastating indictment of the imperial caste system in imperial France. You see this tall black man walk into a circus ring hand in hand with a monkey - to the derisory hoots of the conquerors. That's the kind of thing many black people had to do to survive in those trying times when we were the descendants of the conquered and our children had little hope. These broken semi slaves were often forced to run a horrifying gauntlet and they experienced the most excruciating pain and indignity just to be allowed to draw breath. Chocolat's father saw his son watch him the old man was forced to to behave like an animal and accept crumbs from the Master's table. The 'chocolate' man later became one half of black and white circus act at the beginning of the 20th century. He is usually the clown who is booted, slapped and punched by the white actor. A shroud of humiliation and mockery beset him every waking minute. Perpetual stress and depression was part of his permanent tomb as a plaything in the heart of the French empire. Virtually his only source of happiness emanated from the beautiful white women who were willing to enter his ebony world and love him. At one point he is told, "For white people, a successful black man is a great insult." Trying to work and survive in the land of 'liberty, equality and fraternity', it was inevitable that his very presence was seen as an affront by many French. In what appeared to be a contrived stratagem, Chocolat is arrested and tortured for 'not having an ID document'. This atrocity predated the Apartheid dompass system. A dark skin instantly criminalised one in the eyes of many light skinned people. The imperial legal system was there to terrorise, torture, undermine, sabotage and murder black people who dared to utilise their gifts and become the peers of white people. This film is an exceptional exposition of the terrible trials and tribulations of the conquered caste in the era before the world wars between the empires - wars that helped to free, to an extent, the conquered world. From childhood I used to wonder why so many non white people behaved so badly when they had the choice to behave decently. A tragedy of infinite proportions is the fact that millions of descendants of the conquered will never know that this film exists. When I saw the film, most of the audience was white. Ours is still very much a conquered, colonised world. But many do not know that.

I am the first to be surprised by this movie which I expected to be a comedy. It's usual that, in France, and not only in France, Black actors are used mainly in comedies, as buffoons, and I don't bear this. Omar Sy has been involved in many of this kind of stuff, unfortunately. But here, he is absolutely outstanding, poignant, convincing. He is a true actor, deserving an Academy Award for his performance. I think no one else could have played this role. The role of a totally forgotten Black artist who lived in the first years of the twentieth century, who raised for a very short fame before dying in poverty. In other words, we find here a pure American scheme: rise and fall. This kind of topic is used for gangsters films, or dramas involving artists, business men, politicians. I crave for these stories. But if you live the Wikipédia document, you'll notice that many lines have been forgotten about the true facts concerning the Chocolat's life. This film should have been longer or made through a short TV series, with four episodes.A beautiful but sad drama which deserves to be widely known.

Monsieur Chocolat is one of those typical period dramas that tells a story of days of human degradation gone by more for the sake of the present day than for the desire to accurately reflect the times depicted. Though the director and writers proclaimed their intention of re-introducing a once famous French artist who by the dawn of the 21st Century had slipped into obscurity for a contemporary audience, the issues of race, though certainly a factor of Chocolat's life, are addressed far more strongly than they most likely were back in the days. Of course, Chocolat's entire career was based around his otherness and influenced more by the ignorant cultural notions of white audiences than they were by reality, but that didn't stop him from becoming one of the top theatrical artists of his day. And he was known to be proud of that achievement, even though much of his acts involved getting his arse kicked by a white clown.But the blatant, painful melodrama of his life suggested by Monsieur Chocolat is more of an attempt to remind modern audiences of the insanity and humiliation on which his career was based rather than on actually reported events. Not to mention Chocolat's private demons involving women, booze, drugs and gambling, which add further obstacles to his career beyond simply attempting to add diversity to his stage acts. Basically, by adding all these other troubles, the writers make it clear that Chocolat is an artist like any other, dealing with the same pitfalls of fame that other artists experienced. It makes for rather generic situations beyond the ever degrading scenes of racial subjugation and does little to push Monsieur Chocolat above the myriad of similar films involving struggling performers of any ilk.The performances, less so. Omar Sy may actually have hit a career high note in this one, delivering what certainly can be called his most convincing performance since Intouchables. He moves from merry clown entertaining women and children to broken, down-on-his-luck artist plagued by rampant racism seemingly effortlessly. Not to mention he and his co-star James Thierrée are equally matched, with the latter playing a perfect counterpart as the stage obsessed but otherwise grumpy and serious clown Footit, a total opposite to the light hearted Chocolat in many other respects beyond race. The duo makes for a strikingly different pair of personalities you could hardly imagine sharing the circus, though the ultimate break-up feels an inevitable event from the get-go. The circumstances involving their separation were not as 'black and white' as this film suggests though. Again, Monsieur Chocolat feels the need for distorting the truth to underscore the malign racism of the era. That message is well received, but the historical character of Chocolat is not aided by hammering home the message so harshly. However, thanks to this film, he is also not forgotten, so the makers succeeded in that regard as well.