On her way to visit her childhood home in a colonial outpost in Northern Cameroon, a young French woman recalls her childhood, her memories concentrating on her family's houseboy.
Direction
Denis's first feature already knows silence speaks loudest.
Cinematography
Heat shimmers off every frame. You can taste the humidity.
Acting
Isaach de Bankolé's stillness contains multitudes.
Director
Claire Denis
Isaach de Bankolé
Protée
Giulia Boschi
Aimée Dalens
François Cluzet
Marc Dalens
Jean-Claude Adelin
Luc
Jean Bédiébé
Prosper
Jean-Quentin Châtelain
Courbassol
Emmanuelle Chaulet
Mireille Machinard
Kenneth Cranham
Jonathan Boothby
Jacques Denis
Joseph Delpich
Didier Flamand
Captain Védrine
Essindi Mindja
Blaise
Mireille Perrier
France Dalens
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Denis drew from her own childhood in colonial Cameroon; her mother appears as herself in the present-day framing scenes.
The title's 'Chocolat' was French slang for 'African'—the film reclaims this slur as commentary on commodified Black labor.
FR
