Veteran actor and director Alfonso Arau bagged a bucket full of awards for his 1992 romantic drama, “Como Agua para Chocolate” [Eng. Title: Like Water for Chocolate]. Based on wife and writer Laura Esquivel’s novel of the same name, this is a quintessentially Latin American saga spanning three generations of a wealthy family during the first half of the twentieth century. Borrowing elements from native American mysticism, never has gastronomy, sensuality, love, eroticism, and magical fantasy been as imaginatively and effectively combined together in film before.
Storyline:
We follow the life of Tita, the last of three born to a prosperous couple – and according to family custom, destined to stay unmarried to look after her mother at old age. The father dies of a heart attack celebrating Tita’s birth after he learns he may not be the father to the second child Gertrudis. As the children grow up, we notice mother Elena’s barely concealed hatred towards Tita – she treats her more or less like a servant. But young Pedro, the son of a family friend falls in love with Tita, one which she couldn’t reciprocate due to her circumstances. While refusing a proposal for their marriage, mother Elena offers the eldest daughter’s hand in return, and Pedro accepts the offer as an excuse to stay close to Tita, as he’ll be living in the maternal home. But things don’t go according to plan with the ever suspicious Elena keeping a watchful eye on Tita. But Tita has a gift, acquired from her native American nanny and cook who teaches her to capture and transmit passions and emotions through cookery. After the nanny’s death, Tita becomes the chief cook for the family. Tragedy strikes, and Tita gets acquainted with John, an American doctor from Texas, who had loved her from the first time they met. But she couldn’t love him as much as Pedro, and resigns to waiting for Pedro to become available again…
While the film is well made and put together, it is essentially a woman’s story, aimed at women. But it is the screenplay that makes it special. Held as a landmark in Mexican cinema, it neatly coincides with the second wave of creative film making in Mexico, even if Arau belongs to an older generation. Watch the film, and even better, read the book as well – Highly Recommended Viewing..!
Amazon DVD Link
Amazon Book Link
[Eng. Adaptation]
Compilation: Claudette Maillé, Lumi Cavazos, and Regina Torné
The compilation was made from a letterboxed NTSC DVD (same as the above Amazon-listed product), which unfortunately is designed for older television sets. But it has a rather special scene, which demands greater respect in this blog. I enhanced it using my existing tools, but admit the exercise was only partly successful. Judge for yourself – snapshots from the original DVD (left), and my enhanced version (right):
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