As she works at the chocolate shop and learns the craft, her confidence slowly increases. Through their friendship, Josephine finds the courage to leave Serge after he beats her, moving in with Vianne and Anouk. Vianne develops a friendship with Josephine, who is being physically abused by her husband Serge, the local café owner. After finding out about their secret meetings, Caroline reveals her mother is diabetic, but she continues to eat the chocolate when visiting the shop. Vianne arranges for him and his grandmother to meet in the chocolaterie, where they bond. Armande's daughter Caroline will not let her see her grandson Luc, as she is a 'bad influence'. Reynaud, who will not admit his wife left him, speaks out against Vianne for tempting the people during Lent.Īrmande, Vianne's elderly landlady, is one of her first allies. Vianne opens a chocolate shop despite not fitting in well with the townspeople, begins to make headway with some of the villagers to come to her shop. In 1959 they arrive in a quiet French village, overseen by mayor the Comte de Reynaud at the start of Lent. Vianne and her six year-old daughter Anouk drift across Europe following the north wind, like Vianne's mother before her. Binoche won the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance, while Dench was awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2001. It received five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Critics gave the drama positive reviews and a number of accolades, praising its acting performances, its screenplay, and Rachel Portman's score. The film began a limited release in the United States on December 22, 2000, and went on general release on January 19, 2001. Soon, she and her chocolate influence the lives of the townspeople of this repressed French community in different and interesting ways. Adapted by screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat tells the story of Vianne Rocher, played by Juliette Binoche, who arrives in the fictional French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes at the beginning of Lent with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk. Chocolat ( French pronunciation: ) is a 2000 film, based on the 1999 novel Chocolat by the English author, Joanne Harris, directed by Lasse Hallström.

Chocolat novel