When you live in a village that doesn’t encourage to be yourself and express your own true feelings, secrets start to form and traditions begin to fall. In the film “chocolat” (2000) directed by Lasse Hallstrom the opening scene portrays to the viewer that it is hard to be true to yourself, when you are encouraged to follow otherwise. This is shown through in the film with the use of techniques such as; voiceover, dialogue, and props.
Firstly, the atmosphere of the french village ‘Lasquenet’ is expressed through the voiceover in the opening scenes, stating many things about the village, one being “you understood what was expected of you” showing that the villagers had to adapt their behaviours to fit the tradition created in the village.
This brings in the idea of not being able to express your true feelings, due to encouragement of other ways. Not being able to stay true to yourself and what you love, causes rebellion instead of consent.
We seem to fall out of control when we can’t show our true emotions, due to the overrule of power pressed upon us to follow our traditions. The statement “You knew your place in the scheme of things” spoken in the voiceover also contributes to the atmosphere of the village implying that everyone had a reputation, and if you somehow devalued that standing you were automatically judged for being different and not meeting the standards of the village. This is when the hierarchy system evolves and people at the lower end are made to feel in disvalue and not welcome in the village. As normal human beings we are made to start trends, have values and create a certain mind set. However that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed. We tend to interact with the world as we know it, and are frightened of change. Often, change happens just like that. It’s sudden, it’s quick and it disrupts our balance we have in life. It’s frightening, because one way we survive is by being able to predict…
Movie Chocolat Summary Example. (2019, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-movie-summary-chocolat/