CHOCOLAT (2016)

Heavily romanticized, but compelling bio-pic of CHOCOLAT, a Black immigrant who became one of the most popular clowns in turn-of-the-last-century France.  (See Toulouse-Lautrec’s famous sketch below; pose & costume copied exactly by Gene Kelly in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS/’51.)  Picked out of a country circus by George Footit, an established clown looking to freshen up his act, the two became a quick sensation in Paris with the interracial novelty of their act; made palatable to audiences of the day by basing their comic roughhouse routines on the inevitable humiliation of Chocolat by Footit in ‘clown white.’  As the movie would have it, a mix of too-much-too-soon lifestyle for the inexperienced Chocolat, his additive personality (wine, women, gambling, drugs & spendthrift ways), and growing resentment at second-class treatment in life and as the basis of all their physical shtick took its toll.  Though not before he tried going ‘straight’ as the first Black man to play Shakespeare’s OTHELLO in France.*  You can pretty much feel where co-writer/director Roschdy Zem forces issues with fanciful supposition, but slippery facts don’t stop this from working superbly on its own terms.  Fine period detail, solid, traditional story construction, and most of all, an absolutely stunning perf from Omar Sy as Chocolat and a standard setting one from James Thierrée as Footit.  (He’s not Charles Chaplin’s grandson for nothing.)  And what physical presence when these two are alone together in front of the masses.  Funny too!  No small achievement when clown acts get transferred to the screen, especially with material that’s racially dicey for modern audiences.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Did this even get Stateside distribution?  Post LUPIN, with Sy now an international star, someone should give this a relaunch. 

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *The filmmakers cheat a bit having Sy play Othello as if ‘Method Acting’ had already come into fashion.  And note how in French translation Othello’s famous line: ‘I am one who loved not wisely but too well,’ has its order reversed: ‘I am one who loved too well but not wisely.’   Loses something in translation, non?

LINK: You can find clips of the real Chocolat & Footit in brief sketches on youtube.  This one is not only still funny, but in pretty good shape, showing fine acrobatic skill from Footit as well as being an excellent example of ‘stencil colorizing.’  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxbY9vtgJXI