The film “Monsieur Chocolat” tells the story of Raphael Pedilla, known as “Chocolate” because of his skin color, and is loosely based on the life story of the first black stage actor, Raphael Pedilla, who was born in Cuba in 1860, and Chocolat was his stage name. Monsieur Chocolat was sold into slavery in Cuba, arrived in France, and there began performing as a stage artist, and was even immortalized in the Lumière brothers’ films. We meet Monsieur Chocolat at the beginning of the film when he is performing in a freak show, for rural circus spectators, who have never seen a black man. At that time, colonial exhibitions were held in France, and among other “achievements” of colonialism, people from the various colonies were exhibited, just like exotic animals are exhibited in a zoo. A clown who comes to try working in the circus sees Chocolat and offers him to perform in a joint show. The circus director, who tests them at first, refuses, but finally gives them a chance to prove themselves to the audience. The audience loves them and Chocolat transforms from a freak show to a stage artist. Later, a famous circus manager arrives in Paris and convinces them to perform for him for a lot of money. The film tells the story of the rise and fall of Monsieur Chocolat. The film's director, Rushdie Zem, admitted that this cinematic biography is not exactly faithful to the story of Fedya's life.
Easy money and a love of gambling lead to the downfall of Monsieur Chocolat
Two interesting things about the film: The role of the White Clown is played by James Thierry, who is no less than Charlie Chaplin's grandson! Thierry is the son of Victoria, Chaplin's daughter by O'Neill, meaning he is a fourth generation stage artist, as Chaplin's father and mother were stage artists (both were vaudeville artists: Hannah Chaplin, whose stage name was Lily Hurley, specialized in lewd songs, and Charles Chaplin was a tenor, and also an alcoholic, perhaps because he was expected by vaudeville artists who did not earn much, to sit with the audience and encourage them to drink. This caused many of them to suffer from alcoholism. Victoria, Thierry's mother, played a small role in Chaplin's last (only color) film, which was unsuccessful, "A Countess from Hong Kong"). Thierry's great-grandfather is the playwright Eugene O'Neill, and there is a physical resemblance between Thierry and his grandfather Chaplin. Thierry has until now acted mainly in the theater.
The film features excellent acting by Omar Sy (“Connected to Life”) and James Thierry, who excel at delivering performances with physical humor, as was common in motion pictures at the time. Thierry, who plays Tony Grace, known as Potit, is short in stature, yet he excels at beating and knocking down the larger-built Monsieur Chocolat until he gains racial consciousness and refuses to be the underdog, after Chocolat meets a man who makes him accept this class consciousness.
This person's appearance (an educated black man wearing round glasses) and various hints about him (Chocolate came to visit him but he had already left for Haiti, Fanon was born in Martinique) remind me of the figure of Franz Fanon, who wrote the book "Black Skin, White Masks" (translated into Hebrew by Maariv Publishing), which is considered one of the founding texts in everything related to writing about race, oppression, and national and cultural liberation (along with Edward Said's "Orientalism," which was written after him).
A video of Monsieur Chocolat and Potit filmed by the Lumière brothers
The meeting with this character, whose name I don’t remember, causes Chocolate to develop a class consciousness. Chocolate talks to him about literature and theater plays, and about the limited place that blacks have in canonical literary works. (Apparently only the character of Othello is black) After his eyes open, he no longer agrees to be hit by Potit. Potit believes that this is the only way to be funny, since he is small and Chocolate is big. The audience laughs out loud after Chocolate gives Potit one of his mouthfuls back, unlike the show they have been used to putting on for years, and Chocolate whispers to Potit: “See? It’s funny even when it’s the other way around.” Chocolate wants to accept roles not because of the color of his skin but because of his talent, and is willing to bravely pay the price involved.
Along the way, Chocolate experiences various humiliations because of his skin color. He is paid less than Potit, after all, he is a Negro, and he should be thanked for even being employed. A cocoa company uses a humiliating caricature of him to advertise its product. (This did happen in reality). He also has traits that are detrimental to him: quick money and publicity make him a spendthrift, and he spends his money on buying a car (when it was an extremely rare product) on fancy clothes and gambling. Also, and especially when he is at his peak, he remembers flashbacks from his childhood when he saw his father humiliated like a dog when he was a servant to whites.
Franz Fanon 1925-1961
“Franz Fanon,” wrote Simone de Beauvoir, “is one of the most unique and important figures of our time.” Fanon, who was a French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, published his book “Black Skin – White Masks” in 1952 and raised for the first time the question of white racism and the oppression of the black man in all its severity, forcing white society to look at the black man and acknowledge its historical crimes against him. Fanon wrote that in interracial love relationships, the black man always has the upper hand, and he must somehow atone for the color of his skin. This theory can be applied to relationships between different groups and communities anywhere in the world.
Fanon's work shaped generations of respected thinkers, but beyond his intellectual influence, Fanon became known as a "philosopher of violence" and saw it as an integral part of the struggle for liberation, and his books became practical guides to uprisings against oppression and exploitation all over the world. Fanon served as a military doctor in Algeria, during the uprising against French occupation, where he treated victims of the Algerian uprising. Although he was a citizen France Joined as a doctor the Algerian Liberation Front, FLN, in the first two years of the rebellion against the French authorities, choosing to help the wounded on both sides of the fence, the French as well as the wounded of the anti-French underground. French F.L.N., and resigned from his position as head of the psychiatric department at the hospital in Lida when he could take it no longer (Albert Camus was born in Lida). Fanon died of leukemia at the age of thirty-six, but his texts are alive and kicking, as in this film.
A great reconstruction of the period, beautiful cinematography, and excellent acting by Omar C. ("Connected to Life") and James Thierry, make this film a film not to be missed.
A few words about Osnat Feinsilber Breda
A cinema enthusiast, she has been lecturing on Israeli and world cinema for over a decade – in departments, organizations and institutions. She strives to share in her lectures the love of cinema and the richness of its language, through cultural and artistic stations, and through historical and political events. She is completing a master's degree in cinema at the University of Haifa, and has a master's degree in literature from Tel Aviv University.
Telephone for booking lectures: 8118932 054.