Chocolat

Here are Rosey Lunn's closing thoughts following February's Film Club Extra.

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Fr. Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock – especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer’s wares as the ultimate sin.

Suddenly Vianne’s shop-cum-café means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne’s plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a ‘Church not Chocolate’ battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate eclair?’

Which one of us here has not resorted to chocolate in a moment of stress, a time when we were in need of comfort, when we felt ‘down’ and in need of a lift?

The image of chocolate is powerful and seductive; dark and bitter, rich and creamy:

Dairy Milk, Green & Black, Thorntons, truffles, caramels, fruit & nut, flakes, Mars Bars, Yorkies (not for the girls!), brownies, Mississippi mud pie...

It is significant that many people give up chocolate for Lent – and then celebrate Easter with an almost sickening overdose of it.

On one level, this film is a seductive celebration of the ‘if it feels good, do it’ philosophy of life, which is very much in the spirit of our times – enjoy life, give yourself a treat, let go of negative attitudes, learn to be yourself; it is a ‘feel good’ experience. How do we feel about that? On the one hand, it’s all lovely and positive and life-affirming (and everything that religion in the past has often not been!).

On the other hand, perhaps we should hesitate before abandoning the idea of self-denial; after all, there is a new puritanism very much in evidence in society today: a frugal minimalism pervading many aspects of modern life, from diet to design.

Is this the Shaker movement of the 21st century – a reaction to the affluence of the late 20th century. (‘Affluenza’) So in one sense, the ethos of chocolate could be said to be passe?

There is also the disquieting thought that most of the chocolate we eat in the West is produced in the 3rd world, in conditions of near slavery.

So that’s the issue of chocolate – but of course, there’s much more to this film than that.

There is the theme of people, relationships, community: there is a strong sense of community in Lansquenet when Vianne arrives – but it is a small, enclosed community, in which people have to conform if they are to fit in. There is a strong sense that undesirables must be kept out. Vianne is a liberator, an enabler, whose chocolate-café brings a new kind of openness into the confined stuffy atmosphere of Lansquenet – a place where people can meet and talk and make relationships which are more than superficial. Everyone is welcome – even those who would rather she hadn’t come to Lansquenet, even Reynaud, who mistakes her warmth for a calculated attempt to lure his parishioners away from the church. In fact, she is merely offering the hand of friendship to those who often find themselves on the chilly fringes of the community through no fault of their own. The shop becomes a refuge for those who do not meet with the expectations of Lansquenet society – Josephine, a battered wife, Armande, an elderly lady who refuses to give up life’s pleasures for the sake of her health; and Roux, a homeless village gypsy. For some, this itself is threatening – especially when Vianne and her friend Armande welcome the invading community of the river-gypsies whom the villagers despise and fear.

‘I want to give, to make people happy; surely that can do no harm?’

But Fr. Reynaud protests:

‘Why can’t they see what the woman is doing to us? Breaking down our community spirit, our sense of purpose... Earning for herself a kind of affection, of loyalty which – God help me! – I am weak enough to covet. Preaching a travesty of goodwill, of tolerance, of pity for the poor, homeless outcasts on the river while all the time the corruption grows deeper…’

All of which leads us to ask ourselves: what exactly is ‘community spirit’? Which community spirit was genuine – the sense that existed in the village before V. arrived? Or the challenging ideas she brought which blew a blast of fresh air through those village streets? And how does that relate to us – our families? Church communities? Nailsea?

V. speaks at the end of the novel of the neediness of the town having gone – what was that neediness? What is ours – in terms of our relationships? And how would we react to / welcome a Vianne? She goes on to say: I can feel satisfaction in its place – a full-bellied satiety with no more room for me. (She has done her work.) In homes everywhere in Lansquenet, couples are making love, children are playing, dogs barking, televisions blaring…

The theme running through the whole film is that of change: what does it take to bring about a radical change in the lives of individuals / in a community? What is the secret? What is the cost? What are the rewards? Linked with this is the issue of control: in Lansquenet, as with most communities, there is an unspoken pact between those who control and those who allow themselves to be controlled; and the routine of the place is ruled by habits and customs, and the church, of course, is the focal point of this control. The arrival of V, the stranger who refuses to accept these norms, throws everything into confusion.

Was the tranquility, so valued by the people of Lansquenet, in fact a way of being controlled?
For V. life was lived very differently: the only constant thing in her life was change. As a child she was always on the move – her mother’s desire to live in many places took them all over the world. It seems, when she arrives in Lansquenet, that her growing urge to settle in one place may at last be about to be satisfied – but for the people she has come to live with, this is the beginning of the most unsettling time of their lives. The wind of change was about to blow.

For Josephine, change meant becoming strong enough to move out of the abusive relationship with her husband, whereupon she blossomed into a beautiful young woman, thus embodying , in a way, what the whole film was about.

Vianne compared the town with an old clock, frozen in time. Armande later speaks of the changes that have happened:

‘Look at all the changes: Luc, Caro, the folks out on the river… All of us changing. Speeding up. Like an old clock being wound up after years of telling the same time.’

How do we accept change? Are there times to resist it? What things need to change? How did she do it? How could we bring about change - in our lives? In our communities? Who could bring about change? Could it happen here? What would we have to let go of? What would it cost? Who could blow like a breath of spring wind in our lives this Easter? Would we dare to let it happen?