| | | The passionate tale of forbidden love!
Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, English, Subtitled
In 1910, in the northern plains of Mexico not far from the Rio Grande, a revolution is brewing. And yet, on the prosperous dela Garza ranch, life continues as it has for generations. Heading the family is its matriarch, Mama Elena, a tyrannical widow who has raised three daughters on her own. The eldest, Rosaura, is the traditional one who longs for a suitable marriage and a family of her own; the middle daughter is a hot-blooded spitfire who daydreams about revolution and handsome revolutionaries. Last of the three is Tita, a quiet beauty who radiates a special sadness. For, as the youngest daughter, Tita may never marry. She is obliged by family tradition to care for her mother until the day she dies. Terrified of her mother, Tita spends most of her time in the warmth of the kitchen standing beside Nacha, the family cook. Nacha is more of a mother to Tita than Mama Elena and, through the years, Tita learns all the old woman's recipes and secrets. By the time she reaches womanhood, Tita has become a master chef in her own right, the last in an ancient chain of culinary artists who have a special, almost magical relationship with food. An intriguing love story follows, punctuated by the strangely magical effects food assumes over all involved.
"Two thumbs up, way up!" Siskel & Ebert
"Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. " Desson Howe, Washington Howe
"Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. " Desson Howe, Washington Post
"Striking and sensuous film..." Leonard Maltin
Editor's Note
A sensuous comic fable of a young Mexican woman's tortured life and her main influences--her domineering mother, her forbidden lover, and the overwhelmingly sensual power of food and cooking. Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel.
Plot Summary
Tita, as the youngest of three daughters, is condemned by family tradition never to marry, but to spend her life caring for her mother. However, Tita has fallen in love with a young man and he with her. When Tita's mother refuses to let them wed, and suggests that he marry her other daughter instead, Tita takes revenge: by allowing her passions to surface through her cooking, she manipulates the emotions of all who eat her food -- with some very strange and magical results.
| Features | English Dubbed Track | | 2.0 Dolby Surround |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 6/7/2005 |
| Running Time: 105 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1992 | | Catalog ID: 17369 | | UPC: 00717951002730 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Spanish | | Available Audio Tracks: Spanish | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Independent Spirit (1994) | | | Alfonso Arau, Nominee, Best Foreign Film | |
Tokyo International Film Festival (1992) |  | Lumi Cavazos, Winner, Best Actress Award | | Steven Bernstein, Emmanuel Lubezki, Winner, Best Artistic Contribution Award | |
Oscar, Mexico (1992) | | Alfonso Arau, Winner, Golden Ariel | |
British Academy Awards (1994) | | | Alfonso Arau, Nominee, Best Film Not In The English Language |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...[Relies] enchantingly upon fate, magic and a taste for the supernatural....Prepare for a treat..." 02/17/1993 p.C13Premiere
"...Proof that passion is a dish best served spicy hot..." - Recommended 09/01/1994 p.115 Chicago Sun-Times
"...LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE creates its own intense world of passion and romance....It continues the tradition of magical realism that is central to modern Latin film and literature..." 04/02/1993 p.50 Washington Post 8 of 10
The title may be a mouthful but Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. Hauntingly and exquisitely prepared, this Mexican adult fairy tale is garnished with mystery and wonder. It's the best movie to establish the spiritual link between food and the human condition since Babette's Feast or Tampopo. In 1910, in Mexico's northern plains, quiet Tita (Lumi Cavazos) and her two sisters suffer under the thumb of widowed Mama Elena (Regina Torne). According to family tradition, youngest daughter Tita must tend to her mother until the crusty lady's dying day. Sent permanently to the kitchen to assist old cook Nacha (Ada Carrasco), she discovers a secret world. Nacha shows her mystical--even volatile--qualities in food. There's sorcery in the preparation... Like Water for Chocolate (the title gets easier the more you say it) charts this frustrating, romantic saga with deep sensuality... [and] through the repressed steaminess and roiling tragedies, Esquival (who adapted the screenplay) and director Alfonso Arau spare no opportunity to sweeten things with comedy. - Desson Howe
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 9 of 10
Striking and sensuous film (from a novel by Laura Esquivel, the director's then-wife), set in the early part of the 20th century: a young woman's life is shaped first by her stern and unyielding mother, and more important, by the overwhelming power of cooking. Sumptuous fable--not without humor--with a good cast and a top-notch performance from lead actress Cavazos. Piquant, sometimes mystical, and enjoyably unpredictable.
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 9 of 10
Striking and sensuous film (from a novel by Laura Esquivel, the director's then-wife), set in the early part of the 20th century: a young woman's life is shaped first by her stern and unyielding mother, and more important, by the overwhelming power of cooking. Sumptuous fable--not without humor--with a good cast and a top-notch performance from lead actress Cavazos. Piquant, sometimes mystical, and enjoyably unpredictable. - Leonard Maltin
Washington Post 8 of 10
...a feast for the soul. Hauntingly and exquisitely prepared, this Mexican adult fairy tale is garnished with mystery and wonder. It's the best movie to establish the spiritual link between food and the human condition since Babette's Feast or Tampopo... [the movie] charts this frustrating, romantic saga with deep sensuality... [and] through the repressed steaminess and roiling tragedies, Esquival (who adapted the screenplay) and director Alfonso Arau spare no opportunity to sweeten things with comedy. - Desson Howe
Washington Howe 8 of 10
The title may be a mouthful but Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. Hauntingly and exquisitely prepared, this Mexican adult fairy tale is garnished with mystery and wonder. It's the best movie to establish the spiritual link between food and the human condition since Babette's Feast or Tampopo. In 1910, in Mexico's northern plains, quiet Tita (Lumi Cavazos) and her two sisters suffer under the thumb of widowed Mama Elena (Regina Torne). According to family tradition, youngest daughter Tita must tend to her mother until the crusty lady's dying day. Sent permanently to the kitchen to assist old cook Nacha (Ada Carrasco), she discovers a secret world. Nacha shows her mystical -- even volatile -- qualities in food. There's sorcery in the preparation... Like Water for Chocolate (the title gets easier the more you say it) charts this frustrating, romantic saga with deep sensuality... [and] through the repressed steaminess and roiling tragedies, Esquival (who adapted the screenplay) and director Alfonso Arau spare no opportunity to sweeten things with comedy. - Desson Howe
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Like Water for Chocolate creates its own intense world of passion and romance, and adds a little comedy and a lot of quail, garlic, honey, chiles, mole, cilantro, rose petals and corn meal. It takes place in a Mexican border town, circa 1910, where a young couple named Tita and Pedro are deeply in love. But they are never to marry. Mama Elena, Tita's fearsome mother, forbids it. She sees the duty of her youngest daughter to stay always at home and take care of her. Tita is heartbroken - especially when Pedro marries Rosaura, her oldest sister. But there is a method to Pedro's treachery. During a dance at the wedding, he whispers into Tita's ear that he has actually married Rosaura in order to be always close to Tita. He still loves only her. Weeping with sadness and joy, Tita prepares the wedding cake, and as her tears mingle with the granulated sugar, sifted cake flour, beaten eggs and grated peel of lime, they transform the cake into something enchanting that causes all of the guests at the feast to begin weeping at what should be an occasion for joy... Like Water for Chocolate is based on a novel by Laura Esquivel. Like Bye Bye Brazil and parts of El Norte, it continues the tradition of magical realism that is central to modern Latin film and literature. It begins with the assumption that magic can change the fabric of the real world, if it is transmitted through the emotions of people in love. And Lumi Cavazos, as Tita, is the perfect instrument for magic, with her single-minded lifelong devotion to Pedro - a love that transcends even their separation, when the evil Mama Elena dispatches Pedro and Rosaura to another town, where their baby dies for lack of Tita's cooking. The movie takes the form of an old family legend, and the narrator is apparently Esquivel. It gains the poignancy of an old story that is already over, so that the romance takes on a kind of grandeur. What has survived, however, is a tattered but beautiful old book containing all of Aunt Tita's recipes, and who has not felt some sort of connection with the past when reading or preparing a favorite recipe from a loved one who has now passed on? - Roger Ebert
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  4.5 | | Plot | 4.5 | | Acting |  5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 5 |
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2 of 2 customers found this review helpful.
5 of 5 Food & sex, passion and romance: for him or her--- Friday, December 17, 1999
Enrique Muñoz Ramirez from San Jose, CA
I've seen the dubbed, subtitled and original version of this film. It's bittersweet, and a wonderful film. Like Water for Chocolate is a wonderful film to watch for both males and females. It's not too 'fem' for guys, and it's not too 'macho' for the gals. It's a chick-flick that both the sexes may enjoy. Watch this jewel of a movie during Valentines Day. One thing that I wasn't pleased: the dubbing. It's bad, or worse, than those stupid old Godzilla vs. who-gives-a-rats-ass-about-'that'-monster. So get it with the subtitles. Read the book-- there are miniscule elements that the movie doesn't include. Otherwise, this movie is like the book. Was this review helpful?  
5 of 5 The Original Sensuality Food Movie! Thursday, December 16, 1999
rubiozaca from San Jose CA
The Mexican New Wave of Cinema was speared headed by this international hit in the early 90's. which is based on the literary international hit by Laura Esquivel and is the first contemporary film to use cultural food to symbolize sexual sensuality in it's plot. This is achived through the Latin American technique of Magic Realism. The Mexican Revlotion is it's backdrop is is beautifully captured by Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubeski (The BIrd Cage, Reality Bites, The Little Princess-1996). Director Alfonso Arau creates a palattable ambiance that is hardly found in most films, foreign or not. Fans of Italian actor Marco Leonardi (Cinema Paradiso) will find his performance interesting and the chemistry between Mexican actress Lumi Cavazos is rich and beautiful. This film is a great way to introduce viewers to foreign cinema becuase their is nothing foreign about it. Make sure to make reservations at a good Mexican Restaurante after viweing the film . . . trust me!
P.S.
Mexico is not in Central America, I know, I'm Mexican. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Rich, Full of flavor, a delight. Friday, October 29, 1999
Jim McCabe from Piscataway,NJ
A beautifully filmed movie, that has excellent acting, a film to watch with your partner. Rich in the flavor of the spanish language, and central American culture. A movie that cross's over to people who understand some or no spanish. It will be enjoyed by those who are just starting to taste the full spectrum of foreign films. You feel the texture of this film. Though the ending is more mystical then substance the film is still excellent for anyone with a passion for learning other cultures, and history. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Translation and cultural diferences handicap movie Monday, August 23, 1999
Hector from Miami
Como agua para chocolate is an excelent movie. the plot is not a way of determining how good this film is, but rather the characters reaction towards it. The story is very well written. The book was fantastic and I thought I would not like the film, however I was proved wrong, the crew did a remarkable job at attempting to be faithful to the authors stoyline and moods. This is not easy! The only drawback is that the translation is severly lacking. Spanish is my native language and thus I had an 'eargasm' with this film. However, those who will attempt to read along will miss much especially if there is no familiarity with the Cental American culture of the 1800 and early 1900's. The flick is worth seeing anyway. Was this review helpful?
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