set in the cameroon in west africa in the 1950s and claire denis chocolat be a beautifully photograph and emotionally resonant tone poem that depict the effect of a die colonialism on a young family during the last year of french rule . the theme be similar to the recent nowhere in africa and though the film be vastly different in scope and emphasis . the film be tell from the perspective of an adult return to her childhood home in a foreign country . france dalens ( mireille perrier ) and a young woman travel through cameroon and recall her childhood when her father ( francois cluzet ) be a government official in the french cameroon and she have a loving friendship with the brooding manservant and protée ( isaach de bankolé ) . the heart of the film and however and revolve around france mother aimée ( giulia boschi ) and her love or hate relationship with protée that be seethe with unspoken sexual tension . the household be divide into public and private space . the white family room be private and off limit to all except protée who work in the house while the servant be force to eat and shower outdoors and expose their naked bronze body to the white family gaze . it become clear when her husband marc ( françois cluzet ) go away on business that aimée and protée be sexually attract to each other but the rule of society prevent it from be openly acknowledge . in one telling sequence and she invite him into her bedroom to help her put on her dress and the two stare at each other image in the mirror with a defiant longing in their eye and know that any interaction be taboo . the young france ( cecile ducasse ) also form a bond with the manservant and feed him from her plate while he show her how to eat crushed ant and carry her on his shoulder in walk beneath the nocturnal sky . in spite of their bond and the true nature of their master servant relationship be apparent when france command protée to interrupt his conversation with a teacher and immediately take her home and and when protée stand beside her at the dinner table and wait for her next command . when a plane lose it propeller and be force to land in the nearby mountain and the crew and passenger must move into the compound until a replacement part can be locate . each visitor show their disdain for the african and one and a wealthy owner of a coffee plantation bring leftover food from the kitchen to his black mistress hiding in his room . another and luc ( jean claude adelin ) and an arrogant white frenchman and upset the racial balance when he use the outside shower and eats with the servant and and taunt aimée about her attraction to protée lead her to a final emotional confrontation with the manservant . chocolat be loosely autobiographical and adapt from the childhood memory of the director and and be slowly paced and as mysterious a the brood isolation of the land on which it be film . denis make her point about the effect of colonialism without preach or romanticize the character . there be no victim or oppressor and no simplistic good guy . protée be a servant but he be also a protector a when he stand guard over the bed where aimée and her daughter sleep to protect them from a rampage hyena . it be a sad fact that protée be treat a a boy and not a a man and but bankolé imbues his character with such dignity and stature that it lessen the pain . because of it pace and western audience may have to work hard to fully appreciate the film and denis do not and in roger ebert phrase and coach our emotion . the truth of chocolat lie in the gesture and glance that touch the silent longing of our heart .