What is Chocolat worth, with Omar Sy? (critical)
Roschdy Zem’s film is rebroadcast this Sunday evening on Arte.
On the occasion of the broadcast of Chocolate, This evening, we are sharing again our review of Roschdy Zem’s feature film (Bad faith, Omar killed me), published in the magazine First upon its release in 2016.
The story of Chocolate ? “Rafaël Padilla, known as the Chocolat clown, was born in Cuba in 1860. He was the first black artist on the French scene. With the clown Footit, he invented the famous duo of the white clown and the august black. An emblematic character of his time, the darling of Montmartre, he inspired Toulouse Lautrec and appears in the first films of the Lumières brothers. He was also the first artist to appear in advertisements. Chocolat died anonymously in Bordeaux in 1917. This film traces the forgotten story of an extraordinary man. »
Here is our review: Let us imagine a thematic crossover between Elephant Man by David Lynch and the Black Venus by Abdellatif Kechiche. We will then get an idea of the ambition that permeates Roschdy Zem’s fourth film, always interesting when he goes behind the camera. He signs a cruel, humanist and committed tale, taken from a true story, which the screenplay is responsible for making by turns burlesque, denunciatory, poignant and desolate. The primary racism to which he is subjected spurs on at the same time as it chars the ideal and the pride of his impressive hero. The role allows Omar Sy to confirm the stature that the Intouchables had sculpted for him then Sambaepicenter of a story carried out with superb fluidity, visually flattering, but the style may be a little too wise to provide the inimitable thrill which would have raised it to the level of the great expected spectacle
