Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Beautiful, moving film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I am astounded at the positive reviews for this thoroughly uninspiring film.Often with foreign films I skip over reviews that complain about slow pace and seeming "absence of action" as many of the best international films do not live up to the Western Hollywood model of cinematic storytelling.I enjoy the frequent artfulness and lack of cliché in the foreign film arena. I enjoy that many foreign films don't tie things up in a neat palatable little bow.That said, this particular film offered no redemptive value for the time I wasted watching it. No meaningful character development, no engaging story arc, no way to get emotionally involved with any of the characters on screen. Synopsis: A bunch of emotionally immature uptight prejudiced colonials mistreat their slaves, and a little girl gets hurt by her only friend when the "house-boy" finally gets fed up and takes his abuse out on her. While the above paragraph is poignant and dramatic, this movie will bore you while playing out the scenario. I was so unengaged that it took three sittings to finish it, and I wouldn't have even done that were it not for the positive ratings. Unless you have an academic interest in the period I strongly suggest steering clear of this one.

Claire Denis' debut is both a brave and self-assured one. In this depiction of life towards the end of French colonialist Cameroon, she explores the relationships between men and women, black and white.With the black servant 'Protée' as the film's primary object of desire and oppression, the film enters taboo territory from the beginning. Denis builds a picture of life through a series of character relationships that keep the informed viewer fixed to the screen. The mood of the film is captured perfectly by the camera-work and (lack of) lighting.A great discourse.

To whom it may concern:After having read a few reviews and just seen the film, these are my thoughts. I agree that the film portrays and plays off of the white/black dynamic, but to be more precise, I think that it reinforces the exotification of black and African men by white women. Protee is definitely a stoic character in the movie, but to say that that makes the movie good is not necessarily justification enough for me. Rather, I was more concerned than anything that at the end of the movie I was so moved by a production that in retrospect perpetuates stereotypes about the black/white dynamic and does little, if anything, to empower any of the black characters. Basically, I feel like it only romanticizes the the relationship of Aimee and Protee thereby giving implicit acceptance to the power dynamic inherent between the two of them. As I said earlier, however, it did "move me." But as I earlier, it was the production; the acting, rather than the story itself, that moved me, and to confuse these two is what concerned me most. I'm sure there are a lot of "well-meaning" people out there who liked this movie, and it does have good acting, but all I have to say is switch the characters around-make Aimee the character in a position of less power and give that power to Protee and all of a sudden it's going to be a much less acceptable, interesting, and realistic to a lot of people. It's a good story, apparently semi-autobiographical, but skews the race picture much to the satisfaction of the privileged folks who are paying to see it.

Claire Denis's Chocolat is a beautiful but frustrating film. The film presents a very interesting look at the household of a European colonial family living in Cameroon, giving the viewer an informative perspective on the lives of many characters and their interaction. However, the development of these characters is often maddeningly insufficient. For example, a central theme in the story is young France's inability to form strong relationships with others. Although this portrayal is executed flawlessly, notably in the way that Denis frames the story with scenes from France's return to her childhood home, the girl's lack of intimacy with the film's other characters makes it difficult for a viewer to invest much interest in her development (or lack thereof) as a protagonist. The general stagnation of the film's character development makes it difficult to become engaged in the loosely organized plot. The film raises a great deal of tension between characters, particularly between Aimee and the men in her life, but never fully addresses this social friction, leaving the viewer unsatisfied. The final few scenes are powerful but depressing. Denis's work is certainly interesting from an intellectual and historical standpoint, but if you are looking for a film with adventure or drama, Chocolat is definitely not the best choice.