Like Water for Chocolate
Directed by	Alfonso Arau
Produced by	Alfonso Arau
Written by	Laura Esquivel
Starring	Marco Leonardi Lumi Cavazos Regina Torné Mario Iván Martínez
Release date(s)	April 16, 1992
Running time	123 min
Language	Spanish/English
IMDb profile

Like Water for Chocolate is a popular novel, published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel. The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs her entire life for her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her domineering mother's traditional belief that the youngest daughter must not marry but instead care for her parents. Tita is only able to express her passions and feelings through her cooking, which causes the people who taste it to experience what she feels. The novel was originally published in Spanish as Como agua para chocolate and has been translated into thirty languages; there are over three million copies in print worldwide. The novel makes heavy use of magical realism. Image File history File links Likewaterforchocolate. ... Alfonso Arau (born January 11, 1932) is a Mexican director of such films as Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico, 1992) (adapted from the novel written by his wife, Laura Esquivel), and A Walk in the Clouds, which starred Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn. ... Alfonso Arau (born January 11, 1932) is a Mexican director of such films as Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico, 1992) (adapted from the novel written by his wife, Laura Esquivel), and A Walk in the Clouds, which starred Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn. ... Laura Esquivel (born September 30, 1950) is a Mexican author. ... Marco Leonardi (born November 4, 1971) is an Australian actor born to Italian parents. ... Lumi Cavazos Lumi Cavazos (born January 1, 1969) is a Mexican actress, who won the Best Actress awards at the Tokyo Film Festival, and Brazil’s Festival de Gramado for her portrayal of Tita in the 1993 adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s Mexican novel, Como Agua para Chocolate (Like Water... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... Media:rofl. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Laura Esquivel (born September 30, 1950) is a Mexican author. ... Magic Realism (or Magical Realism) is an illustrative or literary technique in which the laws of cause and effect seem not quite to apply in otherwise real world situations. ...

The novel was made into a film in 1993. It earned all 11 Ariel awards of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures and became the highest grossing foreign film ever released in the United States at the time. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Ariel Award is the oldest and most prestigious Mexican cinema award. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require removal of its excessive redlinks. ... A foreign film is a film that is considered foreign in a particular country. ...

Plot of the film

Like Water for Chocolate's full title is:"Like Water for Chocolate: A novel in monthly installments with recipes, romances and home remedies."

The book is divided into twelve sections named after the months of the year. Each section begins with a recipe of some sort, usually involving Mexican foods. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist's life. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world. ... An example recipe, printed from the Wikibooks Cookbook. ...

Young Tita de la Garza, the story protagonist, is merely fifteen at the start of the events in the story, which take place in the era of the Mexican Revolution. She lives with her mother, Elena, and sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura on a ranch near the Mexico-US border. Tita's boyfriend Pedro Muzquiz comes to ask for her hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it on the grounds of the De La Garza family tradition, which demands that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must take care of her mother until death. Pedro marries (reluctantly) Tita's sister Rosaura instead, and a distraught Tita can hardly keep from being grieved, even though Pedro maintains it is Tita he loves and not Rosaura. Tita has a love of the kitchen and a sharp connection with food of any sort, a skill her sister lacks. Tita unconsciously begins to use the power of food to draw Pedro away from Rosaura, with the rest of the family and hired help becoming pawns in the scheme. This article is about the Mexican Revolution of 1910. ...

As the story unfolds Pedro begins to fall under the developing spell of romance caused by Tita's kitchen skills. But side effects do result, as when Rosaura and Pedro are forced to leave for San Antonio, Texas at the urging of Mama Elena, who is firmly against a Tita-Pedro union, and Rosaura loses her son Roberto and is later made sterile after complications with the birth of daughter Esperanza; elder sister Gertrudis accidentally becoming affected by Tita's culinary delights and leaving the ranch naked with a revolutionary soldier (though she returns at the head of a revolutionary army); Upon learning the news of her nephew's death, whom she cared for herself, Tita blames her mother for Robertos death, by doing this Elena hits Tita furiously with a wooden spoon. Tita, not wanting to cope with her mothers controlling ways creeps up into the attic were she stays feeding a little pidgeon baby until finally the doctor John Brown reasons her to come down. Mama Elena clearly states that there is no place for lunatics like Tita on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, the Doctor decides to take care of Tita at his home instead of sending her to a mental hospital. Tita even enters a relationship with Dr. Brown,gets engaged to him, and at one point plans to marry him, but cannot shake her feelings for Pedro. After the removal of all obstacles to the Tita-Pedro union, the lovers finally shared a night of bliss, leading to their deaths in union and the destruction of the ranch. The narrator of the story is the descendant of Esperanza de la Garza and Dr. Brown's son, Alex who marry at the conclusion of the story. San Antonio (the Spanish name of Saint Anthony) is a common toponym in parts of the world where the Spanish language is or was spoken: Argentina San Antonio, Jujuy province Belize San Antonio, Cayo District Chile San Antonio Mexico San Antonio, San Luis Potosí Philippines San Antonio, Quezon San Antonio... Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Fertility is the ability of people or animals to produce healthy offspring in abundance. ...

Instances of magical realism

The concept of magical realism in the novel is portrayed in Tita's love of the kitchen and her determination to escape her destiny of serving her mother until she dies. In the kitchen she is very emotional, fun-loving, sexy, creative and fiery, and this translates to the dishes she cooks in the kitchen, which often involve spices, peppers and bright, creative elements. She has been well taught by mentor Nacha, the ranch cook, who dies early in the story. Tita takes her place and proceeds to create dishes that people connect with (such as at Pedro and Rosaura's wedding, when the cake with Tita's tears in it caused the guests to vomit; and at Alex and Esperanza's wedding, when the dish of chiles and walnut sauce caused each guest to seek the nearest companion of the opposite sex for a tryst). The meals whe prepares is the only way she is able to have contact with Pedro, which is her way to escape her destyny, a major part of Magical Realism. In the ending of the book, Tita's firey passion opens up a portal to the spirit realm, killing Pedro. Tita, wishing to follow, eats all the candles in the room, remembers her happy thoughts, and reopens the spirit portal, following Pedro's spirit. In the process, so much energy is created that it burns the farmhouse to the ground, and creates fireworks, which the neighbors assumed to be celebratory. This represents her ultimate escape of her destny, as her mother is dead and she can be with Pedro.

The Double Meaning of the Title

The phrase "like water for chocolate" comes from the Spanish "como agua para chocolate." This phrase is a common expression in Spanish speaking countries and was the inspiration for Laura Esquivel's novel title (the name has a double-meaning). In Latin American countries, such as Mexico, hot chocolate is made not with milk, but with water instead. Water is boiled and chunks of milk chocolate are dropped in to melt. When someone is "like water for chocolate," it's comparable to saying "they're at the boiling point," because that's the point water has to be at to make the hot chocolate.

External links

• Como agua para chocolate at the Internet Movie Database  Mexico
• Sparknotes study guide  United States