Chocolat (French pronunciation: [ʃɔkɔla]) is a 2000 romance film, based on the 1999 novel Chocolat by the English author Joanne Harris, directed by Lasse Hallström. Adapted by screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat tells the story of Vianne Rocher, played by Juliette Binoche, who arrives in the fictional French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes at the beginning of Lent with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk. She opens a small chocolaterie. Soon, she and her chocolate influence the lives of the townspeople of this repressed French community in different and interesting ways.
The film began a limited release in the United States on December 22, 2000, and went on general release on January 19, 2001. Critics gave the drama positive reviews and a number of accolades, praising its acting performances, its screenplay, and Rachel Portman's score. It received five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Binoche won the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance, while Dench was awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2001.
Chocolat earned Binoche and Dench several Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations respectively at various award ceremonies including the Academy Awards, the British Academy Film Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, with Dench winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
