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Now Available |
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"One
taste is all it takes" |
 DVD EXTRAS |
- Animated
Menus (DD5.1 snd)
- Audio Commentary
-Trailer Previews
- Theatrical Trailer
- Making Of Chocolat |
-Deleted Scenes
- Cast & Crew Bios
-Costumes of Chocolat
- Dolby Digital AURORA trailer |
CAST & CREW Director Lasse Holstrum /
Cast Juliet Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olen,
Carrie-Anne Moss, and Johnny Depp / Music Rachel Portman |
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Sometimes it's not easy to match a film to a
particular genre. And at times, films simply get tagged with a certain genre, even
though they really don't belong in it. Such was the case with the Darryl Lee
friendly, Chocolat.
It was thought by quite a few people that Chocolat was a period type drama, but the
truth is, Chocolat is really a very quirky little comedic gem.
Set in the small french village of Lansquene, wonderers Vivianne (Juliet Binochet of The English Patient) and her daughter Akuck (Victoire
Thivisol) arrive in the little town, much to the interest of the local (and very life
sheltered) town's folk. As they arrive during Lent, the town's mayor Comte De
Reynaud (Alfred Moline who chews up the scenery) is most displeased by Vivianne opening a
chocolate shop during the middle of their fasting. With Major having such a strong
hold over the town's peoples, they follow in his lead in something of a Bouycot....at
first.....
One particular town's person, Armande (Judy Dench) doesn't care much for the way of the
town and even being a total grump, soon makes friends with Vivianne and Anuck. (
Armande also owns the builiding Vivianne's little choclate shop is in).
Slowly but surely a few town's people make their way to the chocolate shop and are
instantly seduced by it. Vivianne has a gift for knowing what sort of chocolate a
person most desires, and this had a profound effect on the people who drop by.
Josephine (Lena Olin) is one woman in particalur who takes to Vivianne, after her husband
Serge(Peter Stormare.... the nutter from Fargo) beats her up. She begins working
with Vivianne, to make a new life for herself.
With the major in a bit of a tiz over the way "his" town is changing he goes
to great lengths to try and restore what little power he had. Before you know it,
things get even worse for the major as a boat full of river gypsies arrive on the scene,
lead by Roux (Johnny Depp).
Much to the disgust of the town's folk (mainly due to the influence of the major)
The River people are shunned by the locals, except for Vivianne and co. They
are more than welcoming to the newcomers and strike up a good friendship.
Full of wonderful comic moments and a generally
sophistricated level of wit, it is highly recommended that you have a fresh supply of
DarrylLee chocolate handy PRIOR to watching this film as you'll be fanging for some the
minute the movie starts :) |
So how does this DVD Scrub Up?
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VIDEO
Of late there's been only subtle differences between region 4 and region 1 transfers has
been pretty consistent with nearly all the movies being released to DVD. However in
the case of Chocolat, the Region 4 Anamorphic Widescreen version showed
marked improvements
Where the region 1 version is heavier in terms of black level, resulting in a loss of
detail, the region 4 version is considerably brighter and quite revealing of details.
I can't say our version is perfect, but is a little easier on the eye overall seeing as
it's not so dark.
Colours are pretty strong but with a little more red coming
through than i personally like, but it's never overbearing. Sharpness is very high
though looks a smidgeon overdriven. This tends to come across with a slight increase
in picture noise. But again, it's far from overbearing and the end result is a
picture with a good level of detail and depth. (as a matter of fact, some sequence look
absolutely wonderful)
MPEG encoding is uniformly excellent. The only
problem area i could see was during the "cloudy" opening credits.
Spread over 2 layers of an RSDL DVD, the layer change
occurs rather abruptly (at least on my 717) at 78:10. It's directly on a scene
change but there is some guitar playing that is interrupted. |
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AUDIO
Ah slendid. Rachel Portman does it again. Presented with only a Dolby
Digital 5.1 audio mix(448kbps), on offer is a beautiful soundtrack.
Musically it's a room filler. The Front soundstage goes very wide and very deep, and
the surrounds are used constantly for music. Surround usage is also very well
utilised even with sound FX and perfectly matches the on-screen action.
Dialogue also comes through clean and clear with very little to get in its way.
Many comedies and dramas stick with the centre channel with
the odd instance fo Left and Right activity and virtually no surround channel usage.
Chocolat more than breaks this tradition, and it's more than welcome in my Home Theatre! |
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EXTRAS
Geez, even the extras hold up well on this DVD.
On offer are some very nice treats, there's not a lot, but they're all good
- Audio Commentary
. Producers David Brown, Kit Goldern and Leslie Holleran join Lasse
Halstrom on this commentary. With 4 people on board there's little in the way of blank
spots and also plently of info is revealed.
- The Making of Chocolat, running a little longer than most, at 26
minutes, this makes for a good making of with plently of interviews and behind the scenes
footage (4x3 with DD2.0)
- The Costumes of Chocolat, just as the title suggest. Costumer
Designer Renee Ehrlich Kalfus takes us though the various costumes as wore by the
characters of the movies . runs for 4 minutes (4x3 with DD2.0)
- Cast & Crew Bios
- Deleted Scenes 7 scenes in total which are 4x3 letterboxed
- Theatrical Trailer
- Preview Trailers for Wedding Planner (2.35:1 with DD2.0) and The
English Patient (4x3, DD2.0)
What a truly wonderful movie. it's funny, uplifting (even though there are a few
moments of ugliness) and a story that really moves along. The DVD is also very nice
in all areas. |
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| DVD Ratings |
PICTURE_QUALITY |
8/10 very nice |
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SOUND_Quality Dolby |
9/10 great
detail and rich in sound |
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5.1 WOW_Factor |
8/10 quite remarkable
for a comedy |
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| EXTRAS |
8/10
compliments the movie well |
REVIEW_DATE
20th April 2002 |
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Review Equipment |
| Monitor |
Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV) |
Speakers |
Mains: Quadral Gold Amun |
| Amplifier |
Denon AVC-A1SE THX Ultra(EX/ES) |
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Centre: B&W CDMC-SE |
| DVD_Player |
Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs) |
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Surrounds Side: M&K SS500 |
| Interconnects |
QED SQART & QED Optical |
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Surrounds Back : Polk RT f/x |
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Subby: M&K V125 |
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| * jpeg
files for internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by
Roadshow |
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