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Like Water For Chocolate
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Like Water for Chocolate takes place in Mexico near the Rio Grande in 1895. I was curious about what the title meant, and found that in Mexico, hot chocolate is made with chocolate and water, and that the water has to be at the boiling point for the chocolate to be added. This film is about a girl named Tita and the man she loves, Pedro. Like water for chocolate, Tita is ready to be in love and marry Pedro. But her mother, Mama Elena, is a bitter woman who decides that because of an old family tradition, Tita must never marry, but take care of her mother until the day she dies. Her father died when he found out that Tita's middle sister, Gertrudis, is not his but some other man's, Elena's true love.
Mama Elena has a huge ranch, and Tita is most comfortable in the kitchen with Nacha, the head cook, and Chencha, her assistant. Food and the kitchen are the two centerpoints in the movie. When Pedro comes to ask Mama Elena for Tita's hand, she tells him of the tradition and offers him her oldest daughter, Rosauro, instead. Pedro tells his father that he is only marrying Rosauro so he can be close to Tita. Nacha overhears and tells Tita. Tita can't sleep that nite, and ends up knitting a blanket (which she continues to knit throughout the movie and it ends up being about 50 feet long!) The next day, while making the cake for the wedding, Tita cries for her true love into the cake batter. That night, after Tita goes to bed, Nacha tries the batter. She is overwhelmed by sadness for her true love, and ends up dying of a broken heart. At the wedding, the guests all start pining for their loves, and all become overwhelmed with sadness and illness.
Tita becomes the head cook on the ranch. Rosaura and Pedro have a son and name him Roberto. Rosaura can't nurse, so Tita takes him into the kitchen and feeds him tea. She then becomes overwhelmed with a desire to feed his hungry cry and becomes his wet nurse. Rosaura tries to cook for Pedro, but fails. After a year, Pedro brings Tita roses. She clings them to her chest and cuts herself. Mama Elena wants her to throw the roses away, but Nacha comes to her and tells her to make quail with rose sauce. During dinner, Tita and Pedro have some kind of mystical sexual awakening. It is one of the most sensual, non-sexual scenes I have ever witnessed. Gertrudis goes outside and showers. Her body emits a strange rose smell and she is kidnapped by a Federale.
Mama Elena forces Pedro and Rosaura to move to San Antonio to separate Tita and Pedro. Tita is heartbroken. Things only get worse when Chencha brings back news that Roberto has died because he has refused to eat anything. Mama Elena tells Tita she can't cry. But Tita stands up to her and blames her for Roberto's death. She runs to a barn and Mama Elena tells the hands to take the ladder down. Tita has a nervous breakdown, and Mama Elena sends her to live with Dr. John Brown.
While at this house, Dr. Brown, who is obviously in love with Tita, tries to get her to speak but she refuses. Finally, he gets Chencha to bring her some broth and she is healed. Dr. Brown and Tita are going to get married. But Mama Elena gets killed by some bandits so Tita has to go back to the ranch. She sees Pedro and realizes she is still in love with him. Pedro and Rosaura have another baby, a girl they name Esperanza, which means hope. Rosaura says that Esperanza will never marry, but will have to keep the tradition alive and live with her forever until she dies. Tita is livid. The food she cooks gives Rosaura gas and makes her fat and with bad breath. Rosaura asks Tita to help her win Pedro back, so she stops cooking bad food for her.
Meanwhile, Dr. Brown goes to America for a short time and Pedro makes love to Tita. She thinks she is pregnant and tells Pedro.She sees Mama Elena's ghost. Mama Elena tells her that she has shamed her family. Tita stands up to her and tells her she has to leave. She banishes the ghost, but Mama Elena has the last revenge- she burns Pedro. By banishing the ghost, Tita is freed of her psychological pregnancy. She nurses Pedro back to health with the help of Nacha and John Brown's grandmother's spirits. Now she is sure she can't marry Dr. Brown. She tells him so, and he tells her that he still loves her and it doesn't matter, but she should decide who she wants to be with.
Flash to people getting ready for a wedding, but it isn't Tita and Pedro, but Esperanza and Alex Brown, Dr. Brown's son. After the wedding, Tita and Pedro will finally get their chance to be alone. But the passion they have held within is too much, and Pedro dies. Earlier in the movie, Dr. Brown explains that we are all like matches. We have to ignite them one at a time, or it will be too much for our spirits and we will go back from whence we came. That's what happened to Pedro. Tita wishes to join him, so she eats some matches and covers them with the 50 foot blanket. The ranch burns down. When Esperanza comes back from her honeymoon, all that is left is Tita's cookbook.
This movie was very good. I didn't think I would like it since it was subtitled, but really I didn't notice the subtitles because I was so entranced with the storyline. Tita has many battles in this film- the battle of hate with her mother, the battle of being in love with her sister's husband to name a few. She has a lot of secrets, like nursing the babies, the secret tryst with Pedro, knowing that her father died from a broken heart. The ending was tragic, but it was the best way to end it, I thought. I would give this film 5 stars. I watched it 3 times already!
Like Water For Chocolate Main Characters:
Tita- protagonist
Mama Elena-Tita's mother
Rosaura-Tita's sister
Gertrudis- Tita's middle sister
Pedro-Tita's true love
Nacha-Tita's confidant and mother figure
Chencha- assistant at the ranch
Dr. John Brown- doctor and Tita's fiancee
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A Walk in the Clouds
This movie takes place in Napa Valley California right after World War II ends. Keanu Reeves plays GI Paul Sutton, who comes home to find that his "wife" hasn't read his 1200+ letters. He decides to sell candy, as he did before the war, until he finds what he wants to do. He meets Victoria Aragon, an educated woman who has a plight- she had a fling with her professor and now must go home to face her traditional family in a delicate state. Paul decides to help her out by posing as her husband. After meeting the family, he can leave her a Dear Jane letter, and absolve her from her sin.
They go to the vineyard, "The Clouds, " it is called. It is a fantasy come true for the orphaned Paul. Right away, Victoria's father, Alberto Aragon, senses that something is amiss. The grandfather, Don Pedro, is happy for his granddaughter.
A bell rings in the night signaling frost, and Victoria shows Paul how to fan the frost from the grapes and the sexual tension mounts between the two. Paul stays faithful to his wedding vows, wishing that he was free so that he could fall in love with Victoria. He tries to leave the next day, but ends up spending it with Don Pedro, who shows him the root of the plant that started the family fortune.
There is a battle of machisimo between Alberto and Paul during the harvest- it's fun to watch the two of them racing to cut the most grapes. Paul tells Alberto later on that he needs to let Victoria that he loves her and the others in the family and that he has to stop holding back. Finally, Paul realizes he needs to leave and go home. He doesn't know how he is going to free Victoria of this lie they have woven. They decide to say goodbye. At the wine festival, Victoria tells her father that she isnt married to Paul and tells him the whole story of what happened. It is sad.
Paul goes home and finds his wife in bed with her language instructor. She has drawn up an anullment, stating that they were never meant to be together. Paul is ecstatic and goes back to the vineyard to find Alberto drunk and angry. He shows him his anullment. He says he can't possibly love a girl who is pregnant with another man's child. They argue and Alberto knocks a latern into the vineyard and starts it on fire. The family comes out and tries to put it out, but everything is destroyed. Paul remembers the root, and pulls the plant out of the ground. He takes it to Alberto and ta da! saves the day. He says to Paul, " This is the root of your life. Plant it, it will grow." Everyone lives happily ever after.
This movie is about true love and happy endings. It is about overcoming the odds to be together. If you like sappy, corny love stories with wonderful music and settings, you will love this movie. I do, so I give it 5 stars.
Component B: Connections
Both of these movies show hispanic traditionalism in families and beliefs. In both, the children did butt heads with the head of the family, but still obeyed in the end. One thing that I learned this semester about Latin America is that family ties are the strongest. If my mother told me that I had to care for her until she died, not only would I not do it, but I would not even consider doing it. But even today, there are latin americans who would abide by this tradition. The woman I am going to interview and her sister take care of their mother. They do everything for her.
In A Walk in the Clouds, there is a scene where Victoria's younger brother comes home. He introduces himself as Pete. Alberto goes on and on about, "Who is Pete? I send a lot of money to college for a Pedro Aragon, but I don't know a Pete Aragon." Obviously he was named for the patriarch, Don Pedro and Alberto is not only offended but embarassed by this lack of respect. Both of these movies show that the beliefs and traditions are set by the families and are so very important that they are upheld through the ages.
They are show the importance of love and loyalty, of staying true to your family and upholding your word. It was interesting to watch these movies with my new knowledge of the Latin American culture.
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