New 4K Restoration Trailer for Claire Denis’ Debut Feature ‘Chocolat’
by Alex Billington
February 21, 2023
Source: Vimeo
“Sensual. Intimate. Sophisticated. Beautiful.” Janus Films has unveiled an official trailer and a new poster for the 4K restoration re-release of Chocolat, the feature directorial debut film from acclaimed French director Claire Denis. This originally premiered at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and launched the career of this talented female filmmaker. Not to be confused with Lasse Hallström’s film Chocolat, which earned five Oscar nominations, this one is an entirely different film – set in Africa. A French woman returns to her childhood home in Cameroon – formerly a colonial outpost – where she’s flooded by memories, particularly of Protée, her servant from her time there growing up. Starring Mireille Perrier, Isaach De Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, and François Cluzet. This new 4K digital restoration being released by Janus Films was supervised & approved by director Claire Denis, with a mono soundtrack. Restoration is by the laboratory Eclair Classics from the original feature negative with the colorist Bruno Patin and Diego Mercuriali and with the DoP Robert Alazraki. It really does look stunning – certainly worth seeing if you’re in / around NYC.
Here’s the new 4K restoration trailer (+ poster) for Claire Denis’ film Chocolat, direct from Vimeo:
Denis drew on her own childhood experiences growing up in colonial French Africa for her multilayered, languorously absorbing feature debut, which explores many of the themes that recur throughout her work. Returning to the town where she grew up in Cameroon after many years living in France, a white woman (Mireille Perrier) reflects on her relationship with Protée (Isaach De Bankolé), a Black servant with whom she formed a friendship while not fully grasping the racial divides that governed their worlds. Chocolat is directed by the French filmmaker Claire Denis, as her feature directorial debut in 1988. The screenplay is written by Claire Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau. This initially premiered at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival years ago. It also played at the Toronto Film Festival and went on first open in US theaters in May of 1989. This new 4K restoration of Denis’ Chocolat will debut at the Lincoln Center in NYC starting on February 24th, 2023 this winter. For more info on the re-release, visit Janus Films’ official site. Will anyone watch?
