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Flickering ScreensBy Kate Thompson |
| Chocolat and The Gift Deliver
Positive Images Most of the films that portray Pagans or others involved in alternative religions present a pretty negative picture. We’ve all seen them. Good versus evil -- and evil is almost always personified by the characters who aren’t cross-carrying Christians. Not so in two films, recently released on video. "Chocolat" and "The Gift" are two very different films presenting positive images instead. First, "Chocolat" -- which is French for, you guessed it, chocolate. The film by Lasse Halstrom who also did "Cider House Rules," stars Juliette Binoche as Vianne Rocher, who moves to a small French village with her young daughter in the 1950s. She opens a chocolate shop during Lent, very near the town’s church, scandalizing the Catholic establishment, particularly the mayor, brilliantly played by Alfred Molina. As if that weren’t enough, Vianne has never been married. |
| Vianne’s talent is guessing
everyone’s favorite chocolate, and understanding their deepest needs.
Despite the mayor’s efforts to have Vianne ostracized from the
community, the village residents take to her wares like bees to honey. She
makes friends with Lena Olin, the battered wife of the local tavern owner,
and with Judi Dench, the landlady and mother of Carrie-Anne Moss who plays
the mayor‘s secretary. Gypsies appear on the river and dock at the
village, bringing Johnny Depp into Vianne’s life. |
|
| Vianne’s talent is guessing
everyone’s favorite chocolate, and understanding their deepest needs.
Despite the mayor’s efforts to have Vianne ostracized from the
community, the village residents take to her wares like bees to honey. She
makes friends with Lena Olin, the battered wife of the local tavern owner,
and with Judi Dench, the landlady and mother of Carrie-Anne Moss who plays
the mayor‘s secretary. Gypsies appear on the river and dock at the
village, bringing Johnny Depp into Vianne’s life. In the end, Vianne’s paganism doesn’t so much triumph over traditional Christianity as it does over the mayor and his personal problems. It’s a sensual tale and one I thoroughly enjoyed. "The Gift" is a much darker and far different tale by director Sam Raimi, who brought us "Evil Dead." Cate Blanchett stars as Annie Wilson, a young woman supporting herself and her young sons after her husband’s recent death by "donations" she receives as a "psychic counselor" in a small Southern town. The huge ensemble cast includes Greg Kinnear as a school counselor and fiance of Katie Holmes, Gary Cole as the prosecutor, Keanu Reeves as Donnie Barksdale, Hilary Swank as Valerie Barksdale and a host of other familiar faces if not names. Like another of Raimi’s films, "A Simple Plan," the movie has enough twists and turns to keep us guessing -- at first even where it’s headed. The story begins with Annie recommending that Valerie Barksdale leave her abusive husband. When she tells her husband, it becomes clear that Annie has put herself in danger. Kinnear’s fiance turns up missing and Annie’s unpredictable psychic "gift" gives her enough clues to help police find the body. From there, the supernatural thriller and ghost story takes the viewer on a largely unpredictable ride through the swamps of the South and Annie’s psychic skills. It’s a completely different film from "Chocolat" or anything else that Raimi has done, but one I enjoyed. Reeves is menacing and sharply different from many of the characters he’s famous for and Blanchett makes her character’s gift credible. While both movies offer something different, the one positive that Pagans, Wiccans or any of the rest of us involved in alternative religious beliefs can hope for is that it’s the start of a trend. Okay, okay, so maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part. But at least we’ve seen two movies that don’t get the whole thing completely wrong or make Pagans out to be the villains. Kate Thompson is a movie buff and freelance writer living in Iowa. |
| Flickering Screens - Counter Point
By Blake Cahoon I too saw Chocolat and The Gift. I enjoy Chocolat more than The Gift. For it was far more spiritual, and portrayed a deeper message, then The Gift, which came across as a simplistic thriller. I read Kate's review and enjoyed her spin on the Pagan aspect of both films. Although on a personal level, I'm not sure I'd want to lump everybody who does psychic readings into the Pagan category. I know too many psychics who aren't pagans. I will agree there's abit of witchery magic going on in Chocolat and probably that the chocolate plant she used was really cocaine, which helped the feeling of euphoria. But I didn't get the impression that The Gift had pagans; but then again, I liked Chocolat and didn't like The Gift (too predictable and cliquish). The main point we both agree on are we need more films that show alternate points of views and to allow the opening of heart mind and spirit to infinite possibilities and alternate realities. Another Movie Recommendation: The Others, with Nicole Kidman. A woman and her children live in a haunted house while dealing with their own war-torn lives. Released in August and as of this writing, is still in the theatres. |
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