Re: Chocolat at the Kenworthy

[Bill London <london@moscow.com>]

Pam Palmer wrote:

> Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
> 508 S. Main Street
> Moscow, Idaho  83843
> <kpac@moscow.com>
> (208) 882-4127
> * * * * * * * * * *
>
> Chocolat
> March 31 (Saturday only)
> (rated PG13) 121 minutes
> Sponsored by Wild Women Traders
> $4 adults/$2 children 12 and under
> 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM
>
> CHOCOLAT
>
> Miramax Films presents a film directed by Lasse Hallstrom.
> Written by Robert Nelson Jacobs. Based on the novel by Joanne Harris.
> Running time: 121 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for a scene of sensuality and some
> violence).
>
> BY ROGER EBERT (excerpts - full review:
> http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2000/12/122202.html)
>
>             "Chocolat" is about a war between the forces of paganism and
> Christianity, and because the pagan heroine has chocolate on her side, she
> wins.  Her victory is delayed only because, during Lent, a lot of the
> locals aren't eating chocolate. The movie takes place "once upon a time" in
> a French village where utter tranquillity, by which is meant stagnancy, has
> reigned since time immemorial, until "a sly wind blew in from the north,"
> bringing with it Vianne (Juliette Binoche), who opened the chocolate shop,
> after which nothing was ever again the same.
>
> The movie is charming and whimsical, and Binoche reigns as a serene and
> wise goddess. Like Catherine Deneuve's, her beauty is not only that of
> youth, but will carry her through life, and here she looks so ripe and
> wholesome that her very presence is an argument against the local prudes.
> Whether her character has deeper agendas, whether she is indeed a witch, as
> some believe, or a pagan priestess, as she seems to hint, is left
> unresolved by the movie--but anyone who schedules a fertility celebration
> up against Easter Sunday is clearly picking a fight.
>
> There are troubles in the town, quickly confided to Vianne, who consoles
> Josephine (Lena Olin) after she is beaten by her husband Serge (Peter
> Stormare). It is a convention in such stories that husbands tend toward
> wife-beating, and a quiet argument is made for the superior state of
> Vianne, who is the unmarried mother of Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), and thus
> harbors no potential brute beneath her roof. She does, however, have an
> interest in the opposite sex, represented by Roux (Johnny Depp), who
> anchors his houseboat in the nearby river and shocks the bourgeoisie with
> his communal lifestyle.
>
> Vianne's chocolates contain magic ingredients like the foods in "Like Water
> for Chocolate," and soon her shop is a local healing center. One confection
> seems to work like Viagra, while others inspire love, not lust, and inspire
> an old man (John Wood) to screw up his courage and confess to a local widow
> (Leslie Caron) that he has adored her forever. Even Armande (Judi Dench),
> Vianne's opinionated old landlady, melts under the influence and ends her
> long hostility to her daughter (Carrie-Anne Moss).
>
> "Chocolat" is fairly easy on the local establishment--they're not evil
> people, although they resent outsiders like the Depp character; they're
> more like tranquil sleepwalkers who wake up to smell the coffee, or in this
> case, the chocolate. Even Reynaud is converted and is shocked when he finds
> that his reckless language has inspired a local dimwit to set a dangerous
> fire.
>
>             Copyright © Chicago Sun-Times Inc.
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
> Briefly, here's the April schedule.  I'll send out more details next week.
>
> Friday and Saturday, April 6 & 7
> You Can Count On Me   7pm & 9pm
>
> Wednesday, April 11  7:00 pm
> Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
> HOST: Michael Neville, Philosophy (WSU)
> Sponsored by WSU Philosophy Department
> FREE TO ALL WSU and UI STUDENTS
>
> Thursday, April 12    7 pm    $5.00
> The University of Idaho presents the one-act play, WEED, by Micki Panttaja,
> in partnership with Clearwater Resource Conservation and Development
> Council, the UI College of Agriculture and the Palouse-Clearwater
> Environmental Institute.  (All proceeds will be used to support the PCEI
> Environmental Education Fund for K-12 youth.)
>
> Friday and Saturday, April 13 & 14
> Quills  7pm & 9:45pm
>
> Friday, April 20
> Forbidden Planet 7pm / Contact 9pm
> Wow, a double feature!  2 movies 6 bucks (one movie, regular price)
>
> Friday, April 27
> 7:30 to 9:30 pm
> Public Forum on Freedom and Determinism:
> "Mad or Bad: Biological Determinism and Criminal Responsibility"
> Sponsored by Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference
>
> Sunday, April 29    7 pm
> Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
> HOST: David Shier, Philosophy (WSU)
> Sponsored by WSU Philosophy Department
> FREE TO ALL WSU and UI STUDENTS
>
> Look for Moscow Community Theatre's evening of one-acts in May!
> (May 4, 5, 6, and 11, 12, 13)
>
> * * * * * * * * *
> Please e-mail me at ppalmer@moscow.com if you know of someone who wishes to
> receive notice of the movie schedules and other Kenworthy events on a
> regular basis.  Thank you!
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> PAMELA PALMER   ppalmer@moscow.com
>
> Events Committee
> Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
> P.O. Box 8126
> Moscow, ID 83843
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>