The clever north wind

One person's enchantment is another person's resourcefulness

I used to think of Juliette Binoche’s character, Vianne, in Chocolat as a provacateur. She is said to arrive in the pious Catholic town on a “clever north wind” during the season of Lent and sets up a chocolate shop. She becomes a friend to the crotchety old sinner played by Judi Dench and the mentally unstable Barbara Hershey character. Her indulgent treats and unconventional family viewed as disruptive by Alfred Molina’s character, the local count who keeps his own family troubles hidden behind a veneer of pious authority.

A sweet shop on the north side of Nicosia, a whole room of Turkish delight.

I’ve wished to be a Vianne, a woman unafraid of her own appetites, whose indulgences gave her beautiful curves and come-what-may charm. I used to make fudge and sell it at the St. John’s farmers’ market. When I stirred that liquid chocolate, I liked to fancy myself a purveyor of some rustic form of decadence. I wanted to be appealing like Juliette Binoche and her fictional avatar, a woman who could see through people’s self-effacing facades to the longings within.