The film traces a white woman’s return to her childhood home in Cameroon. She recalls life in the colonial outpost during the 1950s, a time when she was oblivious to the racism and oppression faced by her African servant. Denis examines personal past and systemic prejudice with the clear eyes of a veteran filmmaker in Chocolat. While her style has grown to become more audacious in subsequent films, this film signifies an essential chapter in the development of a singular artist.
克麗雅丹妮執導的處女作《巧克力》,靈感來自她非洲成長的經歷。片中白人女主角回到童年時在喀麥隆的居所,憶起1950 年代在這個殖民地生活的點滴,當時的她對家中僱用的非裔僕人受到的種族壓迫渾然不覺。丹妮首作已盡現成熟透徹的觀察力,反省個人往事與社會制度性的偏見。雖然克麗雅丹妮日後的電影風格更加大膽破格,本片仍是她傑出的導演生涯中不可或缺的一章。
DRAMA / FRANCE / 1988 / 105 MINS
DIRECTED BY: CLAIRE DENIS
STARRING: ISAACH DE BANKOLÉ, GIULIA BOSCHI, FRANÇOIS CLUZET, JEAN-CLAUDE ADELIN