For Madden, who was brilliant in Shakespeare in Love, this is quite a comedown. For one thing he doesn’t know what audience to target. It is undoubtedly touristy as it captures the rustic beauty of that island but it also tries to cash in on the nostalgia of Zorba the Greek. The famous Zorba dance finds its way in dribs and drabs as also does the Greek music. In fact, Irene Papas has been cast as Mandaras’ mother merely because of her Zorba the Greek connection in which as a young widow she was stoned to death. It is the treatment of the love story which is sickeningly predictable. How could scriptwriter Shawn Slovo and director Madden ever conjure up such a story?

The story begins well as it captures the rustic milleu of that dreamy island. The cameos are good with Pelagia’s dad, the resident doctor (John Hurt), being the hub of the village activity. Penelope Cruz tires to get under the skin of the role and is convincing at times but Nicholas Cage, after a fair beginning, gets into his City of Angels trance with his head, well fleshed out face at al, virtually in the clouds. All he has to do is to look deeply smitten by love and this is something that he manages pretty well.

Chocolat is a much breezier entertainer that is centred on a single parent, Juliette Binoche, who enters this cute French town along with her daughter to start a chocolatery in the austere Christian season of Lent. How the town folk react to this is what Chocolat is all about. There is the uptight mayor who is the keeper of the town’s morality along with the keys and the confused priest who loves Elvis Presley’s music but has to follow the dictates of the mayor. There is also a battered wife and the tough-talking, but diabetic, old landlady (Judi Dench) and other well-etched cameos.

If Binoche comes in with the North Wind with her brand of Ariel-like freedom, as infectious as her chocolates, it is the conversion of the town to ridding itself of the shackles of religion and conservatism that is the crux of the film. May be the entry of the pirate or river rat ("they are the dregs of society") Johnny Depp is somewhat contrived but this can be overlooked as it is able to add zest to the proceedings.

Chocolat is also a film about relationships. Of a husband who cannot come to terms with his wife, of a daughter who is ashamed of her mother and keeps her son away from her. It is about life and love and hate and the pretences one goes through to put up a facade of well being. The movie is also about the false veneer of religion. All the themes are very succinctly handled by director Lasse Hallstorm with the satire at times souffle-light and at others scathingly strident. All this becomes grist for the entertainment mill and though it is a visual delight and it is also thought-provoking.

Binoche, who was brilliant in The English Patient, goes a step further even though this is quite a different role. She is supported by some good cameos by Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. It is basically the excellent blend of form and content that makes Chocolat such a sumptuous delight.