Plot
Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Esquival, this internationally popular romantic fable from Mexico centers on a young woman who discovers that her cooking has magical effects. The tale's heroine, Tita, is the youngest of three daughters in a traditional Mexican family. Bound by tradition to remain unmarried while caring for her aging mother, Tita nevertheless falls in love with a handsome young man named Pedro. Pedro returns her affection, but he cannot overcome her family's disapproval, and he instead marries Tita's elder sister. The lovestruck young woman is brutally disappointed, and her sadness has such force that it infects her cooking: all who eat it her feel her heartbreak with the same intensity. This newly discovered power continues to manifest itself after the wedding, as Tita and Pedro, overcome by their denied love, embark on a secret affair. Director Alfonso Arau, Esquival's husband at the time, presents the acts of love and cooking with the same glossy, sensual sheen. Indeed, despite occasional digressions into a magical realist tone, the film often takes on the gloss of Hollywood romance. This combination of traditional melodrama and exotic fairy tale proved extremely popular with audiences, particularly in the United States, where it became one of the highest grossing foreign language films at the time. ~ Judd Blaise, RoviReview
Beautifully executed in the Latin storytelling tradition of magic realism, Like Water for Chocolate is a romantic drama that ultimately falls back into a Cinderella myth. Director Alfonso Arau shows the domestic chores and duties of the ranch with a commonplace realism, occasionally lapsing into fantasy sequences for the surreal events that are being cooked up. In one instance, the long-suffering Tita (Lumi Cavazos) rides away with a mile-long blanket dragging behind her, a product of her lovesick nights spent knitting. The mother is appropriately wicked, as is the sister, and Tita views her prince charming, Pedro (Mario Leonardi), as the only escape from her lifelong servitude. Like the oven-warmed kitchen where most of the action is set, the photography is warm and glowing. The connection between food and sex is well developed, in several banquets and dinners proving both memorable and humorous. Filled with characters simmering with passion and jealousy, Like Water for Chocolate lives up to its title, which refers to a method of making hot cocoa by adding chocolate to boiling water. Although heavier topics such as death, ghosts, and revolutionary war arise, the story is overall lighthearted and adheres to Hollywood romantic sensibilities. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, RoviCast
- Lumi Cavazos - Tita de la Garza
- Marco Leonardi - Pedro Muzquiz
- Regina Torne - Mama Elena
- M. Martinez - John Brown
- Ada Carrasco - Nacha
Credit
Mauricio de Aguinaco - Art Director, Farnesio DeBernal - Choreography, Carlos Brown - Costume Designer, Alfonso Arau - Director, Francisco Chiu Amador - Editor, Carlos Bolado - Editor, Oscar Castillo - Executive Producer, Emilia Arau - Executive Producer, Leo Brouwer - Composer (Music Score), Denise Pizzini - Production Designer, Steven Bernstein - Cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki - Cinematographer, Alfonso Arau - Producer, Laura Esquivel - Screenwriter, Laura Esquivel - Book Author| Like Water Through Stone (2009 Film), Like Water (2011 Film) | |
| Like Wildfire (1917 Film), Like You Know It All (2009 Film) |
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