An ‘other’ scene, an ‘other’ point of view: France’s colonial family romance, Protée’s postcolonial fantasies and Claire Denis’ ‘screen’ memories

Abstract

This article challenges the widely held view that in Chocolat/Chocolate (Denis, 1988) the female protagonist, named 'France', owns the point of view. It argues that the film rejects such an exclusive narrative mode, and invites the spectator to reinterpret the story through the perspectives of others, especially that of the houseboy Protée. Drawing on Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytical theories, this article re-examines three key flashback scenes (the mirror scene, the shower scene, and the big box-office scene), taking Protée's vantage point, while engaging with the para-text of Sartre's, Oyono's and Denis' own postcolonial views.