Like Water for Chocolate (film)
From AwardAnnals
| Film: | Like Water for Chocolate |
|---|---|
| Director: | Alfonso Arau |
| Genres: | |
| Distributor: | Walt Disney Video |
| Find it: |
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Reviews
Amazon.com
Expect to be very hungry (and perhaps amorous) after watching this contemporary classic in the small genre of food movies that includes Babette’s Feast and Big Night. Director Alfonso Arau (A Walk in the Clouds), adapting a novel by his former wife, Laura Esquivel, tells the story of a young woman (Lumi Cavazos) who learns to suppress her passions under the eye of a stern mother, but channels them into her cooking. The result is a steady stream of cuisine so delicious as to be an almost erotic experience for those lucky enough to have a bite. The film’s quotient of magic realism feels a little stock, but the story line is good and Arau’s affinity for the sensuality of food (and of nature) is sublime. You might want to rush off to a good Mexican restaurant afterward, but that’s a good thing. —Tom Keogh
Barnes and Noble
Mexican director Alfonso Arau hit upon a recipe for success when he whipped up this tasty mixture of magical realism and spicy romanticism. An art house favorite based on a novel by Arau’s then-wife Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate traces the unusual aftermath of a love affair thwarted by an old Mexican custom. Because she is the youngest daughter in her family, Tita (Lumi Cavazos) must renounce her beloved and remain forever single, in order to devote herself solely to her mother’s care. But Tita’s repressed passion comes out in her cooking, and all who partake of her luscious dishes find themselves deeply and erotically affected. The film’s atmospheric photography (by Steven Bernstein and Emmanuel Lubezki) evokes a world gloriously transformed by the power of food and desire. Clever and enchanting Like Water for Chocolate is a delicious fairytale that owes as much to Federico Garcia Lorca as it does to Romeo and Juliet. Karen Backstein
Related works
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother’s womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef. She shares special points of her favorite preparations with listeners throughout the story.
