Mary’s monthly get-together with our dear friends, the Tarts, necessitated Tori and I getting out of the house for awhile Saturday evening. Okay, that is not really true but it was a good excuse anyway. I decided to play the ‘cool dad’ roll and take her to the movie she had recently asked to see, Blood and Chocolate. Based on Annette Curtis Klause’s young adult novel of the same name, Blood and Chocolate presents the familiar Romeo and Juliet story told against the backdrop of werewolves in Bucharest. While it may sound silly and appear to be an Underworld ripoff, both of which it is at times, Blood and Chocolate is actually a surprisingly enjoyable film.
Blood and Chocolate is not a film that is going to win any awards, nor will it be your or my favorite film of the year. There are a few cringe-worthy lines and at times the young gang of wolf ‘hoodlums’ look a bit silly loping around the darkened alleys. The ideas of the film are not wholly original. Present are the trappings of most typical teen dramas and the plot owes a great deal to the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet and to the Underworld films with which Blood and Chocolate shares a producer. Those things aside, Blood and Chocolate is a film that rises above its inherent flaws and delivers a rewarding theatrical experience.
Where Blood and Chocolate succeeds is in the decision of the film makers to take this film out of America. Scan the credits and you’ll see the cast and crew of a largely foreign film. It is because of this that Blood and Chocolate rises above its criticism and becomes an enjoyable film. The slow, deliberate pacing felt so much like the foreign and independent films that I enjoy. Rather than relying on a pulse-rending soundtrack and non-stop action (both of which were in the Underworld movies which I loved), this film spends much more time on developing the relationship of the two main characters. Blood and gore are kept to a minimum, well within the PG-13 rating, and for once a film doesn’t have to equate sex with love to tell a romantic story.
The cast of largely unknown actors and actresses did a nice job. Hugh Dancy plays graphic novelist Aiden with school-boy charm and Agnes Bruckner is both competent and beautiful in her role as Vivian. Her looks and attitude remind me of Billie Piper from Dr. Who. Both women have very interesting mouths. The film explores the legend of the werewolves, the loup-garoux, and their difficulty in surviving in the world of men as well as the potential trouble involved when it looks like Vivian may reject her prophesized roll in the pack for the love of a human.
Unlike in Underworld and other werewolf films, the people in Blood and Chocolate do not undergo slow, painful, transformations into their lupine forms. Instead the loup-garoux are presented as shape-shifters, changing in a blur of light into beautiful, yet dangerous wolves. This is accomplished via well done slow-motion special effects that give a fluidity and grace to the transformation that is fitting for a creature as majestic as the wolf. Real wolves were used in much of the filming and they are truly amazing and frightening.
Blood and Chocolate was filmed on location in Bucharest and the city itself is the most incredible cast member in the film. This movie is worth seeing simply to gaze in awe at the beautiful gothic structures featured throughout the film. Visions of the folklore and mythology that Mike Mignola mines for Hellboy rose unbidden to my mind as I stared at one architectural marvel after another. Each set created the perfect atmosphere for the story the film makers were trying to tell.
Speaking of architectural detail, I really liked the aged red paint that adorned the outside of the chocolaterie in which Vivian worked. This is one aspect of the film that I did not feel worked particularly well. No time was devoted to explaining why she worked there or how a chocolaterie featured into the story. I am curious enough to possibly pick up the book just to see if the meaning was better explained in Klause’s story.
My overall impression of the film is that it will not be long for the theatres but should be seen if you enjoyed films like Underworld and its sequel. My daugther loved it and I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. It took the werewolf mythology and gave it a slightly unique presentation, combined it with a nice boy-meets-and-falls-madly-for-girl tale, and set it in an environment rich with gothic beauty and history. I was intrigued by the trailer and am thrilled that my daughter gave me a good excuse to get out to the theatre to see Blood and Chocolate.
Great review! I was waiting for someone other than a critic to comment on this one. The critics have really hammered it, but after your review, I think I may give it a shot.
I didn’t know that Hugh Dancy was in this. He’s a great actor. He was in Masterpiece Theatre’s production of Daniel Deronda playing the lead. Great miniseries.
I’m a ‘the book is ALWAYS better than the movie’ girl, so I’ll check out the book first! Thanks for the review, it does sound like a gorgeous movie.
I loved both Underworld movies and have been looking forward to seeing this movie. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it with Tori. You are a cool Dad!
Your review of this film, which I haven’t seen, makes me think of The Historian in that the setting is Eastern Europe, and includes the shape changing, as well as the forces of love…I’m intrigued to view it now.
Cool.. I was hoping someone would see this and tell me if it was worth watching.
I haven’t been able to get any friends to go see a movie these past 2 weekends.. I may just have to go by myself!
I’d never even heard of that movie… Oops. 😉
You are a cool dad, Carl. 🙂
But am I a cool daddio! 😉
Thanks, Carl. I was wondering if I should check out the movie. Some werewolf movies work, some don’t.
Overall I think this one works, probably because this is less of a werewolf movie and more of a typical teen drama. Like I said, there are some really silly affectations, but for the most part it was well done and is presented in the way that I would expect a YA novel-to-film to be presented.
I’ve been curious about Blood and Chocolate, though I’m not sure yet whether or not it sounds like my kind of film. Perhaps I should try the book first…?
Way to be a cool dad – hope you sprung for some popcorn too.
The book is fantastic. Light and quick. The Silver Kiss by the same author is also amazing. both are YA. I’m not sure how they compare since I haven’t seen the movie yet, but its now on my list.
Thanks Katie, I appreciate the info from someone who has read the book.
I offered Jay, but we had just come from eating a wonderful dinner and were both full. It was probably best anyway that we didn’t have popcorn and drinks because as it was we were both beating a path to the bathrooms afterwards. Too much information? That’s what I’m here for! 😉
RB, Did or do you like films like Underworld, Van Helsing, Hellboy? It compares to those in its execution on several levels. It is not nearly as violent as Underworld, in fact for a PG-13 movie its violence was very toned down and limited to just a few shots and they did not linger over those.
This is a really useful review. I will never never pay attention to journalistic reviews of YA and children’s films because they always judge them by adult standards. My son loved Van Helsing (which was also panned) and so I think he might well be interested to see this. And if it isn’t a gore fest then I could accompany him too.
Proof that I probably don’t know what I’m talking about is the fact that this movie has already left my theatre and is only playing at 3 theatres in all of KC and will no doubt be at the cheap movie houses by next week. Ah well, I still enjoyed it for what it was.
I’ve read the book, but i can’t find the movie any where! i know I’m probably just not looking very hard, but could some one help me out here??
It should be in the horror section or the adventure section of most movie stores including Best Buy. I would imagine they would have it at some Targets and Walmarts. You can cerainly buy it online. I actually saw several ‘like new’ used copies at F.Y.E. yesterday. And of course the cheapest place to get it would be Amazon.com.
Cool website, I’ll bookmark it
Well I played the cool dad role today and watched Blood and Chocolate with my 14 year old daughter. She loved it and since I hadn’t seen it in 3 years and thought it held up well to a repeat viewing today.
I wish their were movie like this that a dad could take his teenager to that aren’t filled with sex or sex jokes.
Thanks for the loan Carl !!!
Umm.
Edits above. I thought it held up well…
I wish there were more movies like this…
I always wish I could go back and edit my posts. 🙂