Performance Profile: Judi Dench in "Chocolat" (2000)

Ruth Gordon proved in 1968 that after having a long, and (mostly) unoticed career, an actor can still find unexpected success and rewards with age as they are exposed to the public with welcome respect. There is nothing like a Dame, but, as such, one has scored a perplexing nomination (in a lone line of nominations) and it comes in the tag-long form of...

...Judi Dench in Chocolat (2000)

Judi Dench plays Armande, a cranky, bored, elderly woman who's life is given a jolt thanks to the new gal in town, Vianne (Juliette Binoche).

 Armande's that old sausage of a woman who keeps to herself and barks at anyone who gets near, the kind we have all seen in both film and reality. While always looking at the glass have empty, her life is briefly rocked when her new tenant opens up a local chocolate shop that opens her up to something different and worthwhile to enjoy and appreciate.

Armande's issue, however, is not just about being bored or antsy, but that she is shut out from the only family she's got left; her young grandson and a daughter who shoos her away from the idea of being a connected family. It's this vulnerability which instigates conflict for the character and gives her an underlying sense of sadness, in which her fussy cover is merely a weak defense.

Thankfully, though, Dench is a performer who understands the effects of restraint and how it sets the overall tone of the performance. Therefore, she never lets the fussy nature of the role manifest into her characterization, which would ultimately cripple her work. With flashes of clarity here and there, Dench allows us to see a woman who wants to enjoy the ounce of life she has left, and the struggle she most endure to get there.

But despite those admirable accomplishments, I just don't think that Dench plumbs that deeply here to create a fully fleshed out character, and at times when she could seize the opportunity to give her performance some more emotionally rich chords, she hardens the character which leaves a bland taste behind. Of course, the film doesn't do her any favors, by just using her as more of a device than a character, and Armande's arc feels much to flat and predictable to make the character into special/memorable anyways.

But those tag-alongs are something, though; being able to generate attention to even the most unremarkable performances that get carried along for a ride. It's not that Dench is bad per se, but her limited characterization combined with Chocolat's mistreatment of the "character", results in a performance which ends up with little to pick at.