CHOCOLATE FOR LENT?

Victor Bloom MD

It's a fairy tale, a parable, but... hard to tell what is the message here. A single mother (Juliette Binoche) and her ten year old daughter (Victoire Thivisol) come into a small French town in the late 1950's carrying suitcases. It's a blustery north wind and they are wearing red capes with hoods, in contrast to the neutral and earthy hues of the small town. Red is the color of blood and passion. The church is full of sad-faced penitents and the congregation is reminded that it is the beginning of Lent, and they are to sacrifice as Christ, the Lord sacrificed, so that God's children could be free of (original) Sin. A battle between paganism and Christianity is looming.

The people are downhearted and desolate to begin with, the price of tranquillity, and can hardly be expected to deny themselves further. The mayor, a religious fanatic, attempts to control the morality of the townspeople by imploring the new young priest to preach self-abnegation. Caught off-guard, the young priest is singing, "You ain't nothin' but a houn' dog," which is a hint of what is to come.

By some miracle the woman and her daughter clean up a dirty, cobwebbed shop and open up a patisserie featuring chocolate, every variety you can imagine. Binoche is prescient about which treat the new customer would like best, would need--- to burst the bonds of slavish and blind conformity. The mayor is outraged and threatens to drive her out of town. The chocolatier has a surprising smug self-confidence in the face of her enemy. The mayor spreads rumors that she is evil and her daughter, illegitimate. It comes out that they have been constantly on the move, and the girl wants to settle down. The mother has Mayan artifacts and brings in a sense of the exotic from Mexico. In this case the forbidden fruit is chocolate.

She gives away samples. Huge stores of chocolate are delivered from some unknown source. The woman is young, beautiful and always smiling, displaying a disarming self-confidence despite being strangers in the town, viewed with suspicion and treated with antagonism.

Soon the samples begin to have their effect. People are smiling. Some have a whimsical aphrodisiac effect. More and more people come to the store to taste her wares. The mayor is outraged and is more determined than ever to be rid of her, believing that these tempting sweets are the exact opposite of what God wants during Lent. She must be a witch or a disciple of the devil.

There are numerous subplots of pain and change as the chocolates seem to captivate the townspeople. There are whimsical scenes of self-indulgence. Love erupts. Breaking rules seems to be the order of the day. The widowed, grieving and lonely mayor steps up his holy war and terrible things happen.

Little by little, the subplots are amazingly resolved and everybody lives happily ever after. This disarming, overly simplistic and melodramatic tale is not what you would expect from Lasse Hallstrom, who made "Cider House Rules," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Blue," "The English Patient," and "My Life as a Dog." The talents of the actors may well be squandered on this slender tale. They include Johnny Depp, Judy Dench and Leslie Caron. Victoire Thivisol was the little four year old girl who won best actress award in Europe for her amazing performance as a grieving child in "Ponette." Now she is about ten, but does not have the demanding part that would draw her deepest emotions. Still, she is impressive as the little girl who is tired of wandering.

With chocolate as the weapon, who do you expect to win the war against Christianity? Paradoxically, the answer seems to be that of the New Testament to the Old. The Jesus of humanity and compassion, forgiveness and redemption, is the answer to the Hebrew Jehovah, the God of Law and wrath for those who disobey. God, the Father is unforgiving, while God, the Son is forgiving, if repentence is sincere and authentic.

How does Jesus really judge the indulgence of chocolate during Lent? The audience is left with this conundrum.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net.