Monsieur Chocolat

"Think The Elephant Man, only in French and with clowning. Biography, tragedy, metaphor of France’s colonial heritage, racist parable and circus buddy-flick, Monsieur Chocolat may not be to everyone’s taste, but with acting, direction, cinematography and art direction this good, you’d be hard pressed to fault its ambition."

"The film captures the period in look and feel, the latter propelled by a terrific score from Gabriel Yared, and creates a haunting, sombre mood that lasts well after the end credits."

"[A] lavish and increasingly involving study of fin-de-siècle racism."

"If it's not much good as biography, the film is huge fun as a political comedy about race and entertainment."

"Chocolat is a film that travels from raucous to heartbreaking and back again more than once. It is an engaging, entertaining, angering and mostly very admirable couple of hours. Recommended."

"With the help of evocative production design and Paris locations, Zem and his cast have brought back to life an entertainment pioneer who was tragically forgotten by the time he died in 1917. Gabrel Yared’s score is a plus."

"Their performances are excellent, both main players inhabiting their dual roles of man and clown with both passion and restraint..."

"A superbly performed if classically helmed biopic."

"…a rich, immersive behind-the-stage look at turn of the century Parisian stage life…"