Set in the late 50s in French Cameroon, Claire Denis’s CHOCOLAT (1988, France) is a study of colonialism through sexual tension that exists between a black servant and the wife of a white colonial administrator, seen through the eyes of her young daughter who shares a personal bond with the servant. The arrival of a white pilot whose plane has crashed disturbs the seeming equanimity of the family as tensions between different characters come to the fore, leading to a disturbing confrontation between the arrogant guest and the black servant. The entire plot is revealed through an extended flashback as the young daughter, now grown up, comes to visit the place where she had spent the most formative years of her childhood.
CHOCOLAT is a brilliant piece of cinema, dealt with a restrained hand, streaming on MUBI.