It includes three questions: Are there two or more female characters who have names? Do they talk to each other? Do they talk to each other about something other than a man? The Bechdel Test is a simple test created in 1985 by Alison Bechdel that sheds light on the not-so-blatant reflection of the patriarchy in film. It is an empowering story saturated with feminist themes.Ĭhocolat passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors. Either way, it’s much more than Johnny being hand-fed chocolate. It could just be luring in viewers with the promise of a Depp romance. Perhaps the movie poster is another product of the patriarchy – feeling the need to include a male love-interest, even though he’s hardly essential to the plot. By refusing to break, she watches the patriarchy crumble around her. Her influence helps repair several frayed familial relationships injured by the suffocating rules of orthodoxy. Instead of fleeing, however, she forms unlikely ties in the community. The mayor expends enormous energy trying to dispirit Vianne and drive out her business of “temptation,” which he feels so threatening to his power. Reynaud immediately feels the earthquake at his foundation when this unorthodox, atheist, independent female appears and opens a chocolaterie – just in time for Lent, the Christian holiday of fasting, abstinence, and self-denial. The most influential and powerful figure is the mayor, Paul de Reynaud, who exercises his control of the people through his hand in the church.

It’s not long before the mother-daughter duo realizes they have settled in a strict patriarchal religious community. At the time this movie takes place, 1959, Vianne may not have called herself a feminist, but her fictional character is feminism personified. The movie follows Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) and her six-year-old daughter, Anouk, who arrive in a small village in France and open a chocolaterie. Rather, it’s a story of self love and familial love found through a multi-faceted exploration of feminist values. Granted, it’s classified as a “romantic drama,” but the fact is, Chocolat is much more than the heated romantic film it’s chalked up to be. In fact, the story would stand alone fine without him ever wooing the protagonist. However, Chocolat is not a love story and, some would say sadly, one could claim Johnny Depp is only part of the subplot. It, along with the movie’s suggestive tagline, “Sinfully Delicious,” leads the first-time viewer to assume the film is a sultry love story with plenty of steamy sex scenes (with or without involving food). The film poster for Lasse Hallström’s Chocolat lures potential viewers with a warmly-hued photograph of the beautiful French actress Juliette Binoche hand-feeding chocolate to a young Johnny Depp while gazing into his eyes. Chocolat: The Most Over-looked Feminist Film of the 21st Century Juliette Binoche hand-feeding chocolate to Johnny Depp in the film poster for Chocolat

Chocolat movie cast