Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Publication Title
Studies in European Cinema
Keywords
Clair Denis, Chocolat/Chocolate (Denis 1988), Screen Memory, Fantasy, Point of View, Colonial Family Romance
Abstract
This article challenges the widely held view that in Chocolat/Chocolate (Denis, 1988) the female protagonist, named 'France', owns the point of view. It argues that the film rejects such an exclusive narrative mode, and invites the spectator to reinterpret the story through the perspectives of others, especially that of the houseboy Protée. Drawing on Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytical theories, this article re-examines three key flashback scenes (the mirror scene, the shower scene, and the big box-office scene), taking Protée's vantage point, while engaging with the para-text of Sartre's, Oyono's and Denis' own postcolonial views. The article finally shows that the boy's point of view is as relevant as the little girl's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
First Page
119
Last Page
131
Volume
10
Issue
2/3
Repository Citation
Reis, Levilson C., "An 'Other' Scene, an 'Other' Point of View: France's Colonial Family Romance, Protée's Postcolonial Fantasies and Claire Denis' 'Screen' Memories" (2013). Modern Languages & Cultures Faculty Scholarship. 13.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/mlanguages_fac/13
Original Citation
Reis, Levilson. "An 'Other' Scene, An 'Other' Point Of View: France's Colonial Family Romance, Protée's Postcolonial Fantasies And Claire Denis' 'Screen' Memories." Studies In European Cinema 10.2/3 (2013): 119-131.
Version
Post-Print
Peer Reviewed
1