#Chocolat filmi movie#
#Chocolat filmi tv#
#Chocolat filmi free#

#Chocolat filmi free#

From then on, he decides to take a stand, provoking a split with Footit that will finally give him the chance to headline his own play, although it’s still unsure whether the Parisian public is ready to see a black man acting intelligently and of his own will.īlending sharp physical comedy with lots of compassion, Sy does a fantastic job channeling the spirit of a man caught between his desire to be rich and free and the gradual recognition that he’s still only someone else’s whipping boy. The paradox of Chocolat’s success is that, not unlike an early Gallic version of Stepin Fetchit, his rise to stardom comes at the expense of mocking his own race - something that the smart, Shakespeare-spouting clown accepts for a certain time, until a torturous stint in jail makes him see things differently.

#Chocolat filmi tv#

Yet if Zem fails to bring much originality in those departments, and often directs in a broad and glossy style that’s closer to that of a lavish TV movie, the way he tackles the racial issues at the heart of his film is both intriguing and admirable, especially in a country - and entertainment industry - that has always had a hard time acknowledging its own history of bigotry, slavery and colonialism. Such subplots are handled in an extremely predictable manner by the screenplay, as is an early affair between Chocolat and a fellow entertainer (Alice de Lencquesaing) that’s followed by a more serious love story with a widowed nurse ( Clotilde Hesme).

Fame and fortune soon follow - more of the former for Chocolat and the latter for Footit, who’s paid twice the amount of his partner - and along with them, the usual celebrity complications, including Chocolat’s drinking, gambling and womanizing, as well as some dark secrets involving Footit’s sexual preferences. The team becomes so popular that they’re quickly whisked away to Paris by a hotshot impresario (Olivier Gourmet), who sets them up as one of the Nouveau Cirque’s main attractions.

#Chocolat filmi movie#

(The routine was captured on film in 1896 by movie pioneer Emile Reynaud, played here by a deadpanning Denis Podalydes.)

But what Footit actually sees is Chocolat’s potential on stage, training him in a two-man number that has the former trying desperately to keep the latter in check, most notably in a William Tell-inspired sketch involving one apple and lots of spit. a likely possibility - if only viewers can distinguish this Chocolat from the Claire Denis one, or else from that forgettable Juliette Binoche cacao romance.įreely adapted by Zem, Cyril Gely and Olivier Gorce from Gerard Noiriel’s biography, the film follows the real-life travails of Rafael Padilla, aka Chocolat ( Sy), a former slave who made his way to France in the late 19 th century and became a star of Paris’ Nouveau Cirque through the help of his partner-in-clowning, Tony Grice, aka Footit ( Thierree).įootit is already a known performer when he first encounters Chocolat at a provincial circus run by a money-grubbing couple (Frederic Pierrot and Noemie Lvovsky), who force the clever, Cuban-born exile to play the role of “the Nigger king Kalanka” - much to the fright of country bumpkins who have clearly never seen a black man before. Overseas sales have been strong, with the U.S. Shot on a budget of €18.5 million ($20 million), this Gaumont release should find a decent following among local audiences both in theaters and on the small screen. The many routines performed by the duo are definitely the highlights in a film that never shies away from the darker side of its racial past, up to and including a very non-Hollywood ending, yet at the same time bears a highly academic style that doesn’t really separate it from the pack.