{Saturday Night at the Movies} Like Water for Chocolate

Happy Saturday dolls!! I hope it's a great one for you! Another movie to share...something a bit different from the others I've shared so far. This has been a favourite since I was heading into high school, I worked in the office during the summer before and one of the teachers had new books delivered and I sat down and read this book during the day I was there, the English teacher was quite impressed when she came to pick them up, but knew I wouldn't be in her classes until my Senior year. But, little did she know my love of books and I remembered the book when I was in her class Senior year and read it again and then we watched the movie in class. It's a bit dated now, but the spirit of it remains the same. It's in Spanish  but the DVD has subtitles in English!

Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate)

Available on Amazon UK - DVD, Book. Amazon US - DVD, Book

Director: Alfonso Arau. Writers: Laura Esquivel (novel & screenplay). Stars: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos and Regina Torné.

The story of forbidden love that takes place on a ranch in Mexico near the Texas border in 1910, during the Mexican Revolution. Based on the fantastic novel, based around Tita and Pedro. Pedro wants to marry Tita,  but since she is the youngest of her three sisters and widowed mother, the tradition dictates that the youngest can never marry - she must cook and care for her mother. To remain near his true love, Pedro surprisingly agrees to marry Tita's oldest sister (his twisted logic thinks this is the only way he can be close to Tita) and Tita heart broken, learns to channel her feelings through her cooking. Tita even has to make the wedding feast for them both after being forced by her mother to do so. This spurs on a lifelong sublimation of her passion and emotions with food. It's mystical properties become clearly evident in the expert hands of Tita. She has this ability to literally put her feelings into the food she prepares, both good and bad. The ones she dares not express and keeps hidden away. Her love, her pain, her passions are so evident in every delightful dish she creates. And her feelings manifest themselves in those who partake in her food. 

This is a gorgeous film about love, filled with mystical and magical portions. Both sensual and evocative. It lays out the road Tita and Pedro must take to for their journey to be complete. Gorgeously acted and beautifully told, I read the book this is based on as a teenager and fell in love with it. The power food had on another and how you can make someone something and put your whole being in it, so that it stays with them forever, was wonderful to me. Not for everyone, but surely for those who love food and love - love! I would start with the book and then the movie, but if your more of a visual person, it would be fine to watch the movie first. Just the book - as usual - gives more details. I've seen it again and again and always despise the mother, love Tita and have a massive appetite for food after...Enjoy!

Watch movie clips here

♥