Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua para Chocolate) (1992)
88%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
26 wins & 13 nominations total
Like Water for Chocolate plays to the senses with a richly rewarding romance that indulges in magical realism to intoxicating effect
Like Water for Chocolate is a movie that will make you want to eat your feelings. It’s a romantic fable that celebrates passion, liberation, and the spirit of women, but also reminds you that too much of a good thing can come at a cost. The sumptuous photography and committed performances will leave you feeling like you’ve just eaten a great, multicourse meal. Just make sure you don’t watch it on an empty stomach!
Production Company(ies)
Nero-Film AG,
Distributor
Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuíla, Mexico
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexuality
Year of Release
1993
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 24m
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Language(s):Spanish, English
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Country of origin:Mexico
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 27, 1992 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 14, 2000
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
Like Water for Chocolate, Romance, 2h 24m, directed by Alfonso Arau, written by Laura Esquivel, starring Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torne, Mario Ivan Martinez, Ada Carrasco, Claudette Maille, produced by Alfonso Arau, reviewed by Michael Wilmington, Angie Errigo, David Ansen, Owen Gleiberman, Variety Staff, Janet Maslin, Augusto Martinez Torres, Fotogramas Staff, David Parkinson, Brian D Johnson, Leigh Paatsch, Malcolm Johnson, MPAA rating PG-13, box office gross $14.0M, forbidden love, magical realism, cooking, Mexican revolution, family traditions, unrequited love, passion, liberation, women, materialism, fundamentalisms, discrimination, intolerance, surrealistic, symbolism, extreme characters, chiles, emotions, love, marriage, tradition, rebellion, kidnapping, nudity, intellectual, dark skin, raw emotionality
Worldwide gross: $21,744,201
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,168,254
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,385
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 4,925,655
US/Canada gross: $21,665,468
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,004,706
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,121
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,600
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $49,023
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,217
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,154,510
Production budget ranking: 1,940
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,237,204
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $38,776,540
ROI to date (est.): 607%
ROI ranking: 211
Marco Leonardi – Pedro
Regina Torne – Mamá Elena
Mario Iván Martínez – Doctor John Brown
Ada Carrasco – Nacha
Claudette Maille – Gertrudis
Director(s)
Alfonso Arau
Writer(s)
Laura Esquivel
Producer(s)
Alfonso Arau
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
26 wins & 13 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (6)
It tells a dark, sad, horrific but heartening story in sweet, gleaming images that tickle ribs, quicken senses and awaken hungers. There’s just one word for it: Scrumptious.
June 11, 2020
Michael Wilmington
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Deliciously offbeat and bittersweet, it is, entirely appropriately, a treat.
June 11, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Like Water For Chocolate is an extravagant, playful romantic fable that celebrates passion, liberation and the spirit of women but never forgets that unbridled ecstasy comes at a cost.
April 10, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Strong material has been wasted by inept filmmaking in Like Water for Chocolate.
July 25, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Whether you approach this swift, eventful tale on the culinary or the cinematic level, prepare for a treat.
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
The film’s biggest setback is its script in which the density is felt next to its runtime. [Full Review in Spanish]
June 11, 2020
Augusto Martínez Torres
El Pais (Spain)
An imaginative reconstruction of the traditional Mexican melodrama that is one of the year’s best surprises. [Full Review in Spanish]
June 11, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Fotogramas Staff
Fotogramas
Set in Mexico at the turn of the 20th century, this epic of a forbidden love consummated only through food has a sizzling story, committed performances and sumptuous photography.
June 11, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
Like Water for Chocolate is a lushly photographed family saga about the enchantments of food and unrequited love.
October 15, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
One of the best food films ever, changing its flavours as quickly the many moods of its heroine.
May 31, 2018 | Rating: 3/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
A sensual pleasure, like reading a Marquez novel or eating a great, multicourse meal.
April 10, 2018
Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant…
Plot
In a forgotten Mexico village Tita and Pedro fall in love, but their marriage is forbidden as to traditions. Mother Elena sees Tita’s role as her caretaker for life – no youngest daughter has ever married and her daughter will not be the first to break tradition. Tita’s heart breaks when her mother offers Pedro her sister instead of her, and he accepted it just to live near Tita- he says. Now they live in the same house, and mother Elena cannot forbid their love as she did their marriage.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Like Water for Chocolate on Fresh Kernels.
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