Slowly but surely the earlier work of Claire Denis is getting restorations and re-releases, from Beau Travail to L’intrus to No Fear No Die. While we hope Friday Night and US Go Home are in the cards, next up is her 1988 debut Chocolat. Made soon after she worked under Jim Jarmusch and Wim Wenders, the semi-autobiographical feature is based on her childhood in colonial French Africa as the daughter of a civil servant. Set for a theatrical release starting February 24 from Janus Films, the new 4K digital restoration was supervised and approved by director Claire Denis, made by the laboratory Eclair Classics from the original feature negative. Ahead of the release, a new trailer has now arrived.
Check out the trailer and synopsis below.
France (Mireille Perrier) reminisces about her childhood in Cameroon as her father (François Cluzet) comes and goes on call, which leads to the strengthening of her friendship with their devoted house servant, Protée (Isaach de Bankolé), and to the escalating sexual tension between him and her mother, Aimée (Giulia Boschi). As Protée increasingly becomes an object of desire and of scorn, France’s memories become more and more ambivalent. Prefiguring the concerns of Denis’s later films (Beau Travail, White Material) and establishing the tactile sensuality and elliptical style for which she is known, Chocolat today stands as a modern classic.
The new restoration of Chocolat opens on February 24 at Film at Lincoln Center and will expand.