The synposis from Netflix:
A feast for the senses, this magical romance from director Alfonso Arau was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Golden Globe. The passionate Tita (Lumi Cavazos) is in love with Pedro (Marco Leonardi), but her controlling mother (Regina Torne) forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro instead marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking -- and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares.
Length:
105 minutes
Director:
Alfonso Arau
Cast:
Marco Leonardi
Como Agua Para Chocolate takes one into a world of old traditions. I am not familiar with Spanish traditions, so it came to me as a surprise when I learned in this movie that it is the youngest daughter who must take care of the aging parents. I do not know if this is really true or just a fabrication of the writer.
It is unfortunate that the youngest daughter is the prettiest and falls in love. In this star-crossed lover movie, one watches as duty and traditions over ride the desires of an individual. Whether I wanted to or not, I was dragged through the emotions of anger, rage, despair, and relief.
Rage - I raged against the evil mother. I could not understand how a mother could treat her three daughters so differently. I was angry that the one who could love her most and treat her best was most despised and tortured. How evil could a mother be? This one was pretty bad in my books because she knew her youngest fell in love with a man who loved her back. Instead of giving her blessings, she forcefully destroys the two and keeps them apart.
The mother forces the man to marry the middle sister. The middle sister is dull, unattractive and pretty much a useless person. She is also petty and jealous of her sisters so she goes forth and marries the man. What I never understood is how the man could have settled? I honestly don't believe he was worthy if he could submit so easily. To be married to the sister of the woman he desperately loves? To have to bed that ugly woman and have children with her? To have to daily see the woman he loves and never be with her? What kind of a wuss was he?
Throughout the movie, the youngest daughter is constantly humiliated and degraded. She is literately treated like a slave. I am not sure exactly how she survives. Entwined with the movie is the theme of food. The only outlet the young woman has is cooking. She is a kind heart woman who cooks food with much emotion.
The relief I felt was when the oldest daughter escapes the crazy household abet a very naughty way. She rides into the sunset with her lover, naked on horseback. I can't help but feel a bit of relief that someone has escaped. At the end, the middle daughter has died. The evil mother has died. Finally the two lovers after a life time may finally be together.
The ending was rather anti climatic and when it was over, I was stunned. The movie was building and building and at the end, it was as if we stopped only by driving at 100 mph to full stop at a brick wall. It hurt. I hated the ending.
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