巧克力情人

【标题中的英文是joan baez的一首歌】
 
都说爱情是这世界上最美好的东西，但是物极必反，我一直相信爱情转身的背后也有罪恶和恐惧，甚至爱情本身就是一份罪恶。折磨别人也折磨自己，但是你心甘情愿。如果是我，我就说yes i do. 因为没有什么是比爱情本身更美好的。

   
周一的下午看了2个小时的《浓情巧克力》，这是一个居中的时间段，相比起我钟爱的诸多160min档电影，已属简短，情节依旧简单，总结起来不过是相恋的两个人最初没能在一起但是一直没有放弃相爱这件事情而已。故事的大背景是墨西哥革命动乱时期，整个故事在矛盾与斗争中前进：家族传统和爱情反叛的斗争；欲望和伦理的斗争；甚至是大背景下墨西哥内战时的斗争。

   拉美的电影有一个很显著的特点，就是充满魔幻主义色彩。其中墨西哥又有一个特点，就是美食名扬世界。这就是一部将爱情和美食结合起来的电影，运用奇妙的手法运用美食的表现力。不知道是片源的质量问题还是人多的教室充满热气，看这部电影本身就像是在热带的墨西哥赤裸狂奔，微微泛白的过爆镜头里仿佛触碰得到暖热粘稠的热带空气。它告诉我们爱情不需要道理，情欲不需要压抑。

 

故事从一个乡村家庭的第三个女儿的诞生开始。Tita是被眼泪冲出娘胎的，这也是故事一开始的旁白“当你切洋葱的时候，你就会流泪，但是并不是因为伤心。”Tita在母亲切洋葱的时候突然在子宫里哭泣，眼泪多到母亲直接临盆生产，这种魔幻的出生方式让她一生都伴随着特殊的力量：做菜的力量、爱人的力量，以及抗争的力量。她需要抗争的是她自己的命运，也是造成这种命运的古老传统，以及这个传统具象下来的化身，她母亲。这是一个当丈夫死去就要求Tita作为最小女儿不得出嫁伺候她终身的老修女形象。Tita有两个姐姐，大姐像母亲一样冷漠无趣而恪守陈规，二姐确实墨西哥地区文化的最好代表——奔放大胆而叛逆。这样的极端下，是内心奔放大胆而又处处服从严苛母亲的老三Tita。

    这样的人物设置，本身就是一种矛盾和斗争。如果说母亲和附带的大姐是生锈的老传统，二姐就是奔放新生迟早成为钻石的金刚石，那么tita就是最残忍美丽的diamonds and rust.她一生都在矛盾，她和爱和她的母亲，她的欲望和她的伦理道德，她的想做和她的应该做。这样的矛盾，熟悉如同自身分裂出的两个伙伴，亲密无间的共处一具肉体。然后他们终于以他们可以的方式结合，在灵魂与肉体共同走向顶峰的时候，他的灵魂终于到了另一个世界。

    我爱极了这部电影，是因为它呈现的真实情欲和爱情的关系，思想和肉体的欢愉，如果你爱过你就会懂，你想把你的所有给一个人。

       

美食是这部电影最诱人而神奇的部分。

    当tita爱的他为了接近她而娶了tita的大姐，不明真相的tita的眼泪滴在蛋糕里，整个宴会的所有的宾客都用味蕾感受到渴望爱而不得的巨大悲伤，一群人趴在河岸集体呕吐的滑稽场面是不是就是墨西哥式的幽默？他告诉tita真相后tita做的鹌鹑沙司铺满玫瑰花瓣，美味到全家吃顿饭吃出高潮，好吧，文艺点的说法是伴随着玫瑰花香的沙司从喉咙进入胃中弥漫开的香气仿佛柔软的唇、坚挺的胸和平滑的肌肤，tita用这样的方式冲撞着他，占有着他，他们在食物的抚慰中相互对视的一眼就是最后升华了的高潮。这不仅是他俩私密的仪式，连二姐都感受得到这种强烈的情欲，以致在饭后的沐浴中让浴室都燃烧了起来，她全裸奔向远处的荒原被寻香而来的牛仔架上马背，开始她自己的浪迹天涯。这才是应该属于二姐的爱情。当他和大姐为了家庭责任而产下一女后，tita却莫名的有了奶水，并且成为这个孩子的唯一指定品牌。拉美人民的魔幻现实主义果然是很理想派，有了孩子tita和他就有了为数不多的正常接触机会，即便这偶尔的接触带来过胸廓清晰的形状，手掌俯在上面的温度，深夜室外墙角下的深吻，终究是抗不过一个封建专制家庭的掌权者一句话。

    这个老女人深谙世事，我一直觉得最懂tita的不是奔放积极又勇敢的二姐，她不懂tita的痛和隐忍。但是强势又专断的老女人其实懂，tita在她死后发现她的秘密，“这是一个一生也没有得到过真爱的女人。”但她让自己的痛昨日重现，更何况是在自己的亲生小女儿身上，她用这样的方式告诉世人也告诉自己，节制欲望按传统办事是王道。她的自欺欺人也让她从制造悲剧者的角色而浑身充盈阴影。

 

一个上半集只出现一次的医生从tita终于不堪忍受老女人的折磨而爆发并神智错乱开始出现在tita的人生中。在tita精神崩溃的一段日子里他一直悉心照料，但是他怎样表现都很容易知道他还是只能不会跳出影视作品男二号定律。因为这是感恩，不是爱情，因为感谢而在一起的报恩行为没有资格成为爱情。 医生说过这样一段话，“我们每个人出生时心里就有一盒火柴，但无法自己点燃，在实验室里，需要氧气和蜡烛助燃。但以人而论，氧气必须来自情人的气息，任何东西都可以成为蜡烛，一曲旋律，一个字眼，一抹爱抚，一个声音……任何东西都行，它扣动一下扳机点燃一根火柴，一根火柴点燃后，我们就会沉浸在这强烈的情感中。人人都得去发掘，什么能扣动心弦使他活着，因为喂哺人灵魂的就是火柴的燃起，如果无法点燃，我们的火柴盒会受潮，连一根也点不着了。但是如果这感情太过强烈，就会一次燃尽所有的火柴，这个时候人就会看到黑暗中的光亮，这是上帝的召唤，这便是应该离去的时候了。”

    Tita在已经准备和医生举行婚礼的时候和他完成了两人期待了许多年的事情。这让tita开始动摇，一边是医生的平稳善良，另一边是她从未终止过却始终颠沛流离的真爱。

       

镜头渐出渐入之后是电冰箱标识的新时代的到来，转眼他和大姐的孩子和医生的孩子长大成人并结为连理，大姐已经疾病而终。这个时候才明白原来tita仍然按照爱情的原则选择了孤身。又一次，tita包含爱意和情欲的美食让所有的宾客食后作鸟兽散分别寻找隐蔽私密场所释放欲望。又一次的墨西哥式魔幻和幽默。

    最后一段，整个影片的g点所在，在一间点满蜡烛的房间里只有一张床，上方的小窗户透进来点点星光，和屋内的闪烁的烛光交相辉映，这是一个类似《达芬奇密码》中提到过的仪式一般的场景。在这个场景中，tita和他终于褪去衣物合二为一，不再是暗度陈仓，也不再是妒火所致。他们平静深情的紧紧相拥，互相深入。积攒了20多年的所有感情和爱意终于在这一刻在这个类似祭坛的床上全部燃烧。“如果这感情太过强烈，就会一次燃尽所有的火柴，这个时候人就会看到黑暗中的光亮，这是上帝的召唤，这便是应该离去的时候了。”在这样的旁白中，他走向光亮的容道尽头。tita平静的为两人裹上毯子，吃下一根又一根的火柴，先前隐忍的所有爱恨，自出生以来的所有苦乐都在这一刻化成熊熊烈火。

    光亮的容道里，有个人影在等她，执起他的手，回到每个人最初到来人间的地方。

 

他们是得到了爱情，以看似畸形的方式。尽管个中有猜忌、有乱伦、有伤害，然而爱情始终因它的美好而吸引着心甘情愿的人扑向火海。墨西哥用它奔放而又传统的相互博弈，这是“越过道德的边境，我们走过爱的禁区”，然而这不是“享受幸福的错觉，误解了快乐的意义。”爱情因它自身而美好，不受束于恋人间的相互管制，不屈从与社会传统的禁忌。这是爱情本源的样子。而作为世人，我们只要能占有这本源的一副假面具就已经足矣。

    键入《浓情巧克力》，最常搜出的是Johnny depp版本，我虽然爱透了他，但也没法首先置顶他。对此，有人解释的好：好莱坞也有巧克力，但那多是机械化大生产的巧克力，人人平等而享受。而从墨西哥的家庭厨房里飘出的香气或许更加浓郁奇特。

照旧，三年前的文字。已经不能全权代表我对电影的理解和对爱情、生活的理解了，但放在这里，以回顾一下从前自己的视角，也是有意义的。



Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) is a novel written by Laura Esquivel. Published in 1989, it was a long-running best seller in Mexico. (Shaw 37) It remained over a year on the best-seller list of the New York Times and was translated into twenty-nine languages. (Shaw 37) In 1991, Mexican film director Alfonso Arau, also Laura’s husband, decided to adpat the best-seller a film. Then Como agua para chocolate turned out to be the most commercially successful Mexican film of the 1990s. (Shaw 37) However, the high gross of the film did not give a true impression of the state of the Mexican film industry. (Shaw 38) In 1990s, low-quality genre films relying on sex and violence prevailed the national film market in Mexico. (Shaw 38)
The film does not reflect a true picture of Mexico either. Following the government’s model of public and private investment, involving Aviasco (a Mexican airline) and the Ministry for Tourism, the film “promotes a conservative, romantic image of rural Mexico that would please the Ministry of Tourism and that belied the reality of mass poverty and ever increasing urbanization.” (Shaw 39) “It is represented as a rural land, which has maintained its culinary and social traditions.” (Shaw 51) The director has commented “the government is very grateful because the film did a great job in promoting tourism and the image of Mexico”. (Shaw 39)


From Novel to Film
Como agua para chocolate tells the story around the Garza family during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917). (Lopez-Rodriguez 62) In the ranch ruled by the family, Mama Elena makes decisions for her three daughters—Gertrudis, Rosaura, and Tita—regardless of their own desires. (Lopez-Rodriguez 62) Both the novel and the film begin with Esperanza’s (Tita’s niece) careful reading of an inherited cookbook from Tita, and it brings back the memory of the Garzas. Tita is born on the dinner table in the kitchen in 1910. She is brought up by the family servant Nacha in the kitchen, where she learns her talent in cooking. As the youngest daughter of the family, Tita is destined to care for Mama Elena till the last second and is prohibited to marriage. However, in a family dinner, young Tita met a young man, Pedro Muzquiz. They soon fell in love with each other and claimed each other as the only love in the life. Pedro proposes to the Garzas, but Mama Elena turns it down. Instead, Pedro marries Tita’s sister Rosaura in order to be near to Tita. While Mama Elena keeps tormenting Tita, Tita confines herself in the kitchen, making all the delicious and creative dishes for the family. Magically, her emotion is blended into every dish she makes and has the ability to influence everyone who tastes the food she makes.
In Esquivel’s novel, the story is presented as a cookbook, sequenced with twelve months, with a recipe for each month. The twelve recipes each conclude a chapter, carrying special historical and ethnic implications within the ingredients and the procedures. Although the loving way the camera focuses on food makes clear to the film audience that food is a central character in this story”, the film shifts away from the original structure of the novel and brings the storyline without recipes as separation. (Lopez-Rodriguez 63) Many detailed dishes mentioned in the novel is only given a glimpse in the film, or even omitted, while the other ones are described carefully with the camera language. For instance, the February recipe of capones (capons) and the April recipe of mole de guajolote con almendra y ajonjoli (turkey in almond and sesame sauce) are both cut from the plot, and caldo de colita de res (oxtail soup) and tortas de Navidad (Christmas rolls) are only provided with the simplest description. The several recipes Alfonso Arau focuses on are pastel Chabela de bodas (Chabela wedding cake), codornices en petalos de rosa (quail in rose-petal sauce) and chiles en nogada (chili peppers in walnut sauce). Coincidently, two of these three dishes are specially made for the two weddings in the film, and each brings out a different effect. The emphasis of food in the film and the implications of the recipes will be explored later in the essay.
The rest of the story continues in a traditional way. Rosaura soon delivers a baby, and Tita uses her virgin breast milk to feed her. After finding out the vaguely unbroken relationship between Tita and Pedro, Mama Elena sends Pedro and Rosaura away, as well as the baby. Away from Tita, the baby dies, and the reason is believed to be the food. Tita goes insane and hides herself in the dovecote until John Brown, the ranch doctor, picks her up to his house. John takes care of Tita and helps Tita to reconstruct the confidence to face life. Determined to start a new life, Tita accepts John’s proposal. The moment Tita and Pedro reunite on the ranch, both of them know that their passion for each other does not go away. The day John leaves the ranch they have an affair. As a husband, John is always so understanding and tolerant. He forgives the adultery. At the end of the film, John drives car away for business. Pedro takes Tita to the barn house. In the house, the ghost of Nacha appears and lights every candle in the house. In the soft yellow light, Pedro and Tita’s love “finally blossom”. (Hart 172) Metaphorically indicated by the narrator, “all the matches inside Pedro’s body light at the same time”, and the brightness brings him to the eternal of peace. Tita begins to swallow matches, with the memory involving Pedro and her flashing back. She catches fire from the inside meets Pedro in the tunnel to eternity of love.
As the script written by the author of the novel, the film is able to retain the original flavors. The story is kept as original, and with the help of visual language, the film can do what the words cannot do. It puts imagination into reality on screen as well as transforming the story into a sumptuous Mexican feast.


Food in Como agua para chocolate
As “an important topic in the field of cultural materialism”, food is able to “bring to the forefront those elements of life that were traditionally overlooked because they belonged to the domestic sphere and not to the public, broader, male sphere.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 66) Many directors apply food as a medium to convey the meanings. In Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman, food is a mirror to Chinese culture and ideology. In Lasse Hallström’s Chocolat, food is a gifted creation of magic potion to cure the lagging and obstinacy of the town residents. In Sandra Nettleback’s Bella Martha, food gives a place for communication and enables people to know each other.
In Como agua para chocolate, Alfonso Arau puts tons of emphasis on food. Food plays the central role artistically and commercially. Preparation for food is provided close-up features in the film. The scenes are treated with tenderness and sequential details. Lighting, music and narratives accompanies to strengthen the emotions implicated by the scenes. More than visual enjoyment, the recipes also connect the characters and the storyline. Conclusively, the use of food generally serves functions in four dimensions: as a tag of identity, a language of communication, an expression of creativity and freedom, and an eye into Mexican society in revolutionary and contemporary period. It also offers a space for the story to turn into a magic realistic fairytale.

Language of Expression
Food is a metaphor for emotion throughout the film. Gifted as a very sensual woman, Tita is “repeatedly portrayed tasting, seeing, smelling, touching, and hearing. It is only logical that she communicates through an activity that comprises all the senses.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 68) At the time when Tita and Pedro firstly fell in love, Tita described “Pedro’s gaze on her shoulders” as “what raw dough must feel when it comes in contact with hot oil”. “Bubbles break out of her body”. The medium of food solidifies abstract feelings in Tita’s world, and Tita is able to resort to expressing her feelings through the creation of delicacy in the limited area of kitchen. In the kitchen, food is translated into a new language. In the film, Tita’s recipes are always related to whatever is happening to her at the time. One of the scenes is that in which Tita prepares the quails in rose petal sauce. Right after “Pedro has given her the roses to congratulate her on her excellent culinary skills on the anniversary of her first year as the house cook, and she uses them in defiance of her mother in this dish.” The cooking process is split in sequential details—peeling of rose petals, bundling the quails, grinding rose petal sauces, and adding a drop of mysterious seasoning—representing as an expression of her love for Pedro. “This scene is accompanied by lush piano music that highlights the connection between romance and the culinary process.” (Shaw 51) Here, “cooking is Tita’s way of telling him what she cannot vocalize.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 69)
Realizing the possible communication between Pedro and her through food, Tita feels “compelled to create more and more recipes that will keep alive the love” that Mama Elena and Rosaura had tried to prohibit. (Lopez-Rodriguez 69) “It is this need to create or re-create delicious dishes that moves Tita to put in writing all the recipes she has received from Nacha; that is how their cookbook is born.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 69)

Territory of Freedom and Creativity
We can understand that the kitchen offers Tita an area of “unrestricted freedom” to escape from Mama Elena’s tyranny. (Shaw 50) In the kitchen, Tita is given a free voice to express herself, a territoriality for creativity. (Lopez-Rodriguez 67) Mama Elena tries to control everything of Tita, restricting her from marriage according to the old convention that the youngest daughter should care for mother till death. But her power is limited outside the kitchen. Due to the lack of culinary experience, she never tells Tita what to cook and how to cook, so cooking provides “an outlet for the creativity Mama Elena is always restraining.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 68) So here Tita finds “a means of self-definition and survival”. (Lopez-Rodriguez 66)
“The liberation through food and cooking is not limited to Tita alone, but also occurs for the people who eat her meals.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 68) In Tita’s territory, her emotions evoked by personal experience are also transferred to others through food. “She feels and she makes others feel.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 69) When blending the flour and eggs for making Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding cake, Tita unintentionally drops a tear into the ingredient. It turns out that during the wedding reception, whoever has a bite of the cake, is reminded of the sorrow of lost love. In an old Spanish love ballad, a sense of melancholy and frustration from “love of their lives” spreads through every guest and the scene culminates in a collective of vomiting. “Uncontrollable outbursts of pleasure, sadness”, which is usually forbidden in the ranch, is let free with the help of Tita’s food. (Lopez-Rodriguez 68)

Kitchen as An Eye
Esquivel has pointed out in an interview: “the kitchen, to me, is the most important part of the house. It is a source of knowledge that generates life and pleasure.” (Hart 173) Como agua para chocolate offers a “feminine kitchen-eye’s view of those turbulent years during Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), which is “at odds with the masculinity rhetoric of the history books with their emphasis on battles and the struggle for civic power.” (Hart 173) “The film, in its content, including modernization, the increase of social inequality, and the growth of feminism. This can be seen in the way that it ignores all of these issues and reinvents the past in such a way as to negate social history. The image of Mexico sold to national and international audiences through the film are filled with nostalgia for a mythical past. In this reinterpretation of the past, gender roles are clearly delineated, class and ethnic tensions are ignored, and nobody goes hungry.” (Shaw 39)
The cookbook received by Esperanza is an essential clue in the film. It connects different races and cultures in the film and “symbolizes not only the loving relationship among women but also the preservation of Nahuatl heritage and its mixture with Spanish and Ceole elements”. (Lopez-Rodriguez 70)
“Nacha and Chencha, members of ethnic minorities, have been denied by the dominant white upper class the possibility of expressing their knowledge through any medium other than the recipes they cherish. By passing the recipes on to the next generation they are not only able to communicate some practical information but to preserve elements of an indigenous culture that would otherwise be lost.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 69)

Construction of Fairytale
Labeled as magical realism, Como agua para chocolate is consisted of numerous fantastic scenes beyond reality and a bunch of fairytale traditions. The main roles in the film have their counterparts, which can be found in traditional fairytales. The romantic heroine Tita is like Cinderella, arduous and kind, while at the meantime suffering the inequality caused by a wicked mother, Mama Elena. Tita is so talented as a maternal role model that she even knows how to deliver the baby. “Bound to the kitchen from the moment of her emblematic birth in this very same room, Tita is treated first by her mother and later by Rosaura as just another servant.” (Lopez-Rodriguez 67) The setting even parallels with the story of Cinderella. John Brown, the fiancé of Tita, is the benevolent, careful and tolerant doctor that can be found in many 18th century fairytales as a positive figure without imperfection. In Como agua para chocolate, his tendance heals Tita’s sorrow for love and his great breath of mind forgives the adultery between Tita and Pedro. Nacha and Chencha are the servants who are satisfied with the status of being ruled and have a loving relationship.
Moreover, besides the setting of the roles, the strange alchemical reaction brought by food and the abrupt passion of people all tell the story in the language of fairytale.



Reference:
Ching, Eric, Christina Buckley, and Angelica Lozano-Alonso. Reframing Latin America. Austin: University of Texas P, 2007. 286-305.
Como Agua Para Chocolate. Dir. Alfonso Arau. Perf. Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos. Videocassette. Buena Vista Home Video, 1992.
Esquivel, Laura. Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores y remedios caseros. México, D.F.: Editorial Planeta Mexicana, 1989.
Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate: a Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies. Trans. Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Halevi-Wise, Yael. "Storytelling in Laura Esquivel's Como agua para chocolate." The Other Mirror: Women's Narrative in Mexico, 1980-1995. Ed. Kristine Ibsen. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood P, 1997. 123-130.
Hart, Stephen M. A Companion to Latin American Film. Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2004. 171-178.
Lopez-Rodriguez, Miriam. "Cooking Mexicanness: Shaping National Identity in Alfonso Araus Como agua para chocolate." Reel Food. Ed. Anne L. Bower. New York: Routledge, 2004. 61-73.
Segovia, Miguel A. "Only Cauldrons Know the Secrets of Their Soups." Velvet Barrios: Popular Culture& Chicana/O Sexualities. Ed. Alicia G. Alba. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 163-178.
Shaw, Deborah. Contemporary Cinema of Latin America: Ten Key Films. New York: Continuum, 2003. 36-51.


April 6, 2008

人生需要欲望，方才能有活下去的勇气。
我还是喜欢管这个片子叫做《浓情朱古力》，最早听到的名字。虽是始于爱情终于爱情，整个电影倒不是爱情那么简单。受缚于传统的家庭，不仅是爱情，各方面的欲望都被严格限制，伤心之时不能伤心，痛苦之时不能哭泣。女主的两个姐姐，一个是严格遵守传统的蠢货，一个是离开家参加了革命军得到了爱情和幸福生活的豪放女子，唯独女主，守护者家庭和自己的欲望，一直等待可以爱人团聚的那天。
我是不太清楚影片拍摄的背景，能感觉到影片借爱情之名义表达变革的欲望，因此在镜头和台词方面都很大胆。初看之时会觉得人物形象的塑造过于，但是女主的漂亮，将饮食和欲望相互交融发展的剧情倒是很引人入胜，越到后半部分影片就越加丰满起来。

A mi me gusta mucho esta pelicula,se trató de una historia sobre el amor . pero no estoy de acuerdo con la idea de Pedro, es injusto para su esposa...

（一）古印第安式的宗教信仰
        印第安人认为万物有灵，死去的人将以另一种状态存在于世上。电影中多次出现娜査、艾连娜的亡灵，女主蒂娜家的狗在蒂娜妈妈艾连娜的灵魂出现的时候狂吠，男主拜德罗在花园提议与蒂娜私奔师那只狗冲出来追随他们，以及蒂娜与二姐柔丝在后院吵架时她家的鸡互相追逐，锅里的菜豆拒绝被煮熟等等情节都体现了这一点。
（二）墨西哥人注重吃的拉美饮食文化
        影片中出现大量墨西哥特有的美食文化，婚礼、生日、日常、新年，不同场合吃的东西都有所不同，影片中厨房中制作美食的场景和随后的宴会贯穿了整个故事，彻夜准备婚宴、花费大量时间精力烹制每一道食物都体现出墨西哥人对吃的注重。
（三）注重他人看法、家族利益优先的集体主义文化
       电影中蒂娜的母亲艾连娜、二姐柔丝非常看中家族名誉不惜牺牲自己小女儿的幸福，对于事情的第一关注点在于他人怎么看自己，所以艾连娜与柔丝都要求坚持“小女儿不能出嫁而要服侍自己直到去世”的传统，这两个角色是落后传统文化的迂腐继承者，从始至终都不曾质疑传统的合理性。蒂娜虽然在遭遇与挚爱被迫分开、心爱的外甥死去等一系列痛苦的事情后成为落后传统的反抗者，但她的反抗也是不彻底的，是被生活逼出来的。集体主义文化中，造就了她懦弱，善良的性格，从出生到死去都在为家庭利益贡献自己：服侍一家人起居、照顾柔丝的孩子、帮助外甥女争取幸福，即便，她总是不自知地把家庭集体、把他人利益至于自己的利益至上，所以她拒绝拜德罗提出的私奔，即便在她母亲死后也不愿夺回拜德罗，在姐姐死了，外甥女结婚，每个人都有了幸福后她才想到自己，才和拜德罗正式在一起，而压抑多年的爱情太过激烈，一把引燃了两人生命中的全部火柴，只留下耀眼的光芒与燃尽的残骸。
（四）男权主义、家长权威不可侵犯的大权力距离文化
       在影片中女主母亲艾连娜是家里的一家之主，她压制着所有人，无论是对于家里的仆人还是自己的女儿都永远一副命令的语气，不予亲近。影片中虽然没有很多笔墨描写男权主义，但在宴会上艾连娜跟神父说要让拜德罗和柔丝搬走时，神父回“家里总要有个男人”，他们搬走后果然家里出了事艾连娜意外死去，轻描淡写中即传达出了当时男人被看做是家里顶梁柱庇护者的男权观念，同时拜德罗当初为接近女主而娶女主姐姐的荒谬逻辑竟没有人觉得不对，他结婚后在家里成天无所事事什么都不做，人们默认男人都是对的，男人不能做“女人做的闲杂事务”也反映了当时男人地位比女人高很多的状态，人。这些都是当时社会整个文化下权力距离极大的特点。
墨西哥现在仍有少部分人坚持一些愚昧传统习俗，如父母示超过17岁还没嫁出的女儿为私人物品随意赠人等。
（五）情绪文化
      不同于受东方文化影响的中国属于中性文化，起源于南美洲文化的墨西哥文化在强皮纳斯的文化架构理论中属于情绪文化。影片中大部分人的情绪都是外露的，比如拜德罗与蒂娜双方爱情的流露、情感表达，娜査、今查对女主蒂娜的疼爱心疼等情绪都是直接流露出来的，人物的悲伤与同情一系列情绪都直接表现出来，即便是努力克制自己情绪维持自己形象的传统家长艾连娜，在大女儿赫露蒂斯离家出走后会悄悄去女儿房间哭泣，在得知孙子死讯的时候，眼神掩藏不住努力压抑的深刻的悲伤离家出走后会悄悄去女儿房间哭泣。而没受传统思想束缚的其他角色则表现得更直接更直白。
（六）不断发展的具有多样性和包容性的文化（印第安文化、欧洲文明、美国个人主义文化萌芽）
       因曾遭受入侵，有过一段殖民统治时期，墨西哥常住人口有印第安土著人、欧洲移民、美国人等，各种习俗文化冲突碰撞融合，呈现出多种文化共存。艾连娜和柔丝的显然是印第安传统文化的完全继承者，但同时也有个人主义的萌芽，她们在家族利益之后考虑的便是个人利益，所以她们完全不考虑蒂娜的权利、不关心她们的亲人；蒂娜的大姐蒂斯奔放热情，潇洒自由，注重事情的本质结果而不考虑中间其他人或是其他理由，没有成为传统的居家妇女而是行军打仗豪爽直率，则有欧洲人的影子，反映出一定的欧洲文化；蒂娜做着传统妇女的事情，但她在生活的逼迫下渐渐认清愚昧落后的传统害人不浅，奋起反抗，最终让传统在她这里终结，代表着文化的发展更替，个人主义的萌芽。


个人感悟：
       整部影片带着魔幻主义色彩，融合了各种元素：生活、习俗、文化、饮食、情感，很多人对蒂娜和拜德罗的爱情悲剧印象最深，而我们在观看中印象最深的却是女主母亲艾连娜给女主带来的伤害，无法理解一个母亲怎么可以对自己的女儿残忍至此，同时也无法理解女主为什么不一开始就反抗，为什么不反抗得更彻底一些，然而冷静下来一想，这都是没办法的事，她们都是那个文化大背景的产物，这是由不得她们的，如果不这样，那艾连娜就不是艾连娜，蒂娜就不是蒂娜，《浓情巧克力》也不是这个《浓情巧克力》了。尽管就个人（蒂娜和拜德罗）而言结局是悲剧式的，但就整个时代整个社会却是进步式的（愚昧的传统被打破）。整个社会就是在前人的努力与牺牲下才逐步发展成今天的样子的，而今天的我们终究也将成为“前人”，社会也因此得以不停发展进步。
       最后分享一下影片中个人最喜欢的一段话，是备胎医生John的祖母曾说的：“我们每个人诞生之初，体内都有一盒火柴，我们需要氧气和蜡烛来点燃它，只不过对我们人来说，氧气不是凭空而来的，比如说它来自爱人的呼吸，烛光则可以是任何东西——一首曲子、一句暗语、一个亲昵的爱抚、甚至细微的声音，总之什么都可以，只要可以触发燃点，然后点燃火柴。我们每个人都需要寻找属于自己的燃点，因为只有点燃我们生命中的火柴，才能让我们的灵魂得以滋养。”愿大家都能找到自己的燃点，点亮自己生命的火柴。