Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4001 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-09-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Expect to be very hungry (and perhaps amorous) after watching this contemporary classic in the small genre of food movies that includes Babette's Feast and Big Night. Director Alfonso Arau (A Walk in the Clouds), adapting a novel by his former wife, Laura Esquivel, tells the story of a young woman (Lumi Cavazos) who learns to suppress her passions under the eye of a stern mother, but channels them into her cooking. The result is a steady stream of cuisine so delicious as to be an almost erotic experience for those lucky enough to have a bite. The film's quotient of magic realism feels a little stock, but the story line is good and Arau's affinity for the sensuality of food (and of nature) is sublime. You might want to rush off to a good Mexican restaurant afterward, but that's a good thing. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

DVD Description
Spanish language with english subtitles. Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel.

Synopsis
Tita, the youngest daughter of a Mexican family is destined to spend her entire life looking after her mother. Tradition has it that the youngest daughter must never marry. But Tita falls in love and her boyfriend Pedro asks for her hand. The family offer him the second eldest daughter and he accepts... Spanish dialogue with subtitles.

Customer Reviews

THE MYSTICAL PROPERTIES OF FOOD...
This film is a feast for the eyes. Based upon the best selling novela of the same name by Laura Esquivel, who also wrote the screenplay, the film successfully captures this tale of forbidden love. Well directed by Laura Esquivel's husband, Alfonso Arau (The Magnificent Ambersons, A Walk In the Clouds), the cast delivers wonderful performances in this mystical tale.

During the early twentieth century in Mexico, just south of the border, a girl catches the eye of boy. A number of years later, the boy, Pedro, now a young man, speaks to the girl, Tita, now a young woman, and declares his heartfelt, passionate love for her. Pedro (Marco Leonardi) wants Tita (Lumi Cavazos) to marry him.

He and his father meet with Tita's mother, Elena (Regina Torne), and ask if she would give her consent to a union between Pedro and Tita, Elena's youngest daughter. Elena forbids such a marriage to take place, as it is an unbroken family tradition that the youngest daughter remain single, so that she may take care of her mother until the mother dies. Such is the destiny of Tita. Elena, instead, cruelly offers to have her oldest daughter, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi), marry Pedro.

Surprisingly, Pedro agrees to marry Rosauro, his twisted logic being that this is the only way he can be close to Tita. Thus, begins an untenable situation. Tita, forced by her selfish, harridan of a mother to prepare the wedding feast for Rosaura and Pedro, begins a lifelong sublimation of her passion and emotions with food. Its mystical properties become self evident in the expert hands of Tita, as she becomes a superlative cook. She has the ability to imbue the food that she prepares with the fervor and feelings, both good and bad, that she dare not express. Her love, her pain, her passion is evident in every delightful and delicious dish that she creates, and her feelings manifest themselves in those who ingest her meals.

This is a glorious film about love, filled with mystical, magical, and supernatural portents. Sensual and evocative, it details the road that Tita and Pedro must travel before their journey is complete. Wonderfully acted and beautifully told, theirs is a story that will long linger in the mind of the viewer. Awash in amber tones, the brilliant cinematography contributes to the mystical properties of this film. Sumptuous and surreal, it is a feast for the eyes and not to be missed. Bravo!

A cooked up tragic Mexican romance
This film is ultimately based on a very old Mexican tradition, whereby the youngest daughter of the family is fated to be a spinster in order to look after her mother. This is a very forlorn film but nevertheless, excellent. Food also plays a major part in this film. It is a beautifully made film and I recommend those who can read Spanish to read this novel by Laura Esquivel.

A Bit Dispappointed!
I have to say that "Like Water for Chocolate" is one of my most favourite books of all time. But after watching the film version, I have to say that if I had watched the film first, then I probably wouldn't have read the book. Its really sad because the film really doesn't do the story justice. There's so much more to the story than is shown in the film, and a lot of it is a bit difficult to understand, especially if you haven't read the book beforehand. I'd definitely recommend reading the book instead, or at least reading it before watching the film.