She brings love, health, healing and restoration ( Matthew 5:1-20). She comes to an old man, Guillaume the sick, Armande and Luc the abused wife, Josephine and the outcast, the river people. The contrast between Vianne and the Comte de Reynaud is extreme. The stage is now set for a battle for the hearts of the villagers, a holy war between the Chateau and the Chocolaterie. As He often does, God uses imperfect vessels like Vianne (as he did King David) because He looks not on the outside as man does, but at the heart ( I Samuel 16:7). Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, arrive with the wind to dispense the love of God (the chocolat) to the villagers. He rises and shuts the wind out by forcefully closing the doors thus symbolizing how tradition can shut out the very presence of God. The Comte, seated in the front pew, is the mighty upholder of tradition. As if to answer the priest's question in the movie, "Where will we find truth?", the wind blows open the church doors, startling the villagers. The village is a drab, depressing place, without joy, until "a sly north wind blows in", reflecting the arrival of the Holy Spirit ( John 3: 8, Acts 2: 2). They have learned not to expect more from life than what their station traditionally affords. Here everyone knows what is expected of him or her they know their place in the hierarchy of the village. Peter Kreeft, the Catholic theologian said, "Dullness not doubt is the greatest enemy of the faith." In Chocolat "dull" is the word for the Village of Lansquenet. No one proclaimed this message more profoundly than Jesus Christ ( Mark 7: 6-13). It can quench the Spirit rather than vivify it. The practice of religion often becomes the vehicle, which leads men into greater bondage. It is that the traditions men attach to religion bring a false "tranquility". There is one central truth being revealed in this film. ![]() So the question should be, "What is this truth, and why am I moved by it?" There is a truth in the movie that will touch your heart. Since the movie appears to be set in a world of fable and fairy tale, one must look past all the supernatural references to see the heart of the movie. ![]() Although the film is set in 1959, it is as if this village, where time is irrelevant, has only seasons of life. As the narrator begins the film with "Once upon a time", we are transported through the clouds to a traditional French village. A fable is a fictitious narrative a story of supernatural happenings that often enforces some useful truth. As you enter the theater, the billboard advertisement for Chocolat calls it "a comic fable".
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