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Everything you need to know about BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE …and how it relates to you and the world around you. Includes info on the actors, director, with news, reviews, and photos. Visual Review visual review by david bruce visualhollywood.com
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"Blood and Chocolate" is based on Annette Curtis Klause's novel about a teenage werewolf who has spent her life trying to hide the fact that she is part wolf. She must choose between her love for a human and her family after her relationship with a visiting American threatens to expose her secret.— SHORT SYNOPSIS Movies Contain the Essence of Being Human
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AGNES BRUCKNER (Vivian Gandillon) Bruckner came to national prominence in “Blue Car,” for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. KEY ACTORS OLIVIER MARTINEZ (Gabriel) Martinez first debuted in "IP5 (1992). He has received the Cesar Award for Most Promising Young Actor for "1, 2, 3 Soleil.” BRYAN DICK (Rafe) Dick appeared in “Brothers of the Head”, “Master and Commander”, “Morvern Caller”, as well as “Colour Me Kubrick”. The Cinematic Arts Have the Power to Transform
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KATJA VON GARNIER (Director) Garnier directed the acclaimed film for television, “Iron-Jawed Angels,” which starred two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank. KEY TALENT EMMA E. HICKCOX (Editor) Born in London to film editor Anne V. Coates and film director Douglas Hickox. Visited Los Angeles in 1986 and never went back. ANNETTE CURTIS KLAUSE (Book author) She has published four novels for young adults: The Silver Kiss, Alien Secrets, Blood and Chocolate, and Freaks: Alive on the. Our Artists Are Our Liberators
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ARTIST HIGHLIGHT AGNES BRUCKNER (Vivian Gandillon) Agnes Bruckner (born August 16, 1985) is an American film and television actress. She began acting on television in the late 1990s, and has since appeared in several Hollywood films, including 2007's Blood and Chocolate. As of 2007, Bruckner is single. She enjoys hip hop, R&B and rap music, as well as The Killers and The Fray. Bruckner has stated that she does not participate in "the Hollywood part of Hollywood", and travels or stays at home during her free time. As of 2007, Bruckner's father lives in Hungary. Actors are Liberators in Masquerade
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ARTIST HIGHLIGHT HUGH DANCY (Aiden Galvin) Dancy (born 19 June 1975) is a British actor. Dancy was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and is the son of eminent British philosopher Jonathan Dancy, a professor at the University of Reading and the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Sarah, is a publisher. He was educated at Winchester College and St Peter's College, Oxford. In July 2006, Hugh Dancy received a nomination for the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, as Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries, for his role in Elizabeth I. Actors help us: laugh, be happy, cry, get angry, and even think. Can there be any better gifts?
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ARTIST HIGHLIGHT KATJA VON GARNIER (Director) Katja is a German film director. From 1989-1994, she studied at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film film school in Munich. Best known for her 1997 film Bandits starring Katja Riemann. In 2002, she directed in the United States for the first time. The resulting movie Iron Jawed Angels (HBO Films) about the women's suffrage movement was and released in 2004. Together with her husband, director Markus Goller, and their son Merlin, Katja von Garnier lives in Los Angeles. Filmmakers are Revolutionaries Posing as Entertainers Photo Date: 17 January 2004 Photo by Jeff Vespa - © WireImage.com - Image courtesy WireImage.com
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EXTENDED SYNOPSIS OLIVIER MARTINEZ as Gabriel and AGNES BRUCKNER as Vivian Vivian's family was killed in America when she was a young girl, after which she moved to Romania to live with her aunt Astrid. Astrid is a previous mate of the pack's leader, Gabriel, and together they have a son named Rafe. According to pack law, the leader chooses a new mate every seven years. The choosing is a few months away and Gabriel wants Vivian as his mate, despite her reluctance. This is because of a prophecy which states that a female loup-garou will lead the loup-garou into a time of hope. Gabriel thinks this wolf will be Vivian, and for this reason he wants to marry her. Stories are Transforming
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EXTENDED SYNOPSIS AGNES BRUCKNER as Vivian and HUGH DANCY as Aiden While sitting in a church one night (having broken into it) she meets a human man, Aiden, who is an artist (who broke into the church to examine the stained glass art in it) researching the legend of the loup-garou. Aiden is instantly smitten and pursues her for several days before she finally agrees to start seeing him. They meet in secret and fall in love. They are soon discovered by Vivian's cousin Rafe and his four friends; throughout the movie Rafe and his friends are referred to as the Five. After the Five tell Gabriel about the relationship, he orders Rafe to do whatever is necessary to get Aiden out of the city. All Kids are Born Artistic What is Natural is Essential
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EXTENDED SYNOPSIS Rafe sends Aiden a note, pretending it is from Vivian and asking him to meet her in a chapel outside the city. After Rafe threatens him, Aiden throws him into the table where he cuts himself. Rafe's spilling of blood forces his eyes to turn yellow and reveal his true nature, after which he has to kill Aiden because he knows the secret of the pack. Aiden barely escapes with his life, poisoning and killing Rafe with the silver necklace he was wearing. Stories Embody the Essence of Being Human BRYAN DICK as Rafe
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EXTENDED SYNOPSIS Gabriel and Astrid are devastated at the death of their son, and Aiden is caught by the other loup-garou. Every month at full moon, the pack leads a hunt in the forests. The human prey is chosen because they are a danger to the pack or because they've offended one of its members. If the human manages to cross the river in the forest, they're allowed to live, but no one has ever managed to reach the river. Aiden is chosen to be that month's prey and he runs for his life. Fortunately, he'd stolen a silver knife from a restaurant earlier, and when two wolves corner him he's able to kill them. He reaches the river and crosses, but Gabriel is furious and breaks his own law, he follows Aiden and attacks. Vivian jumps in and she and Gabriel fight in their wolf forms, she wins and throws him into the river. Aiden attacks her, not recognizing her in her wolf skin, and stabs her with the knife. When she reveals who she is, he is stricken with guilt and agrees to help her. Cinematic Story Telling is a Profoundly Humanizing endeavor. Loup garoux chase after their human prey
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EXTENDED SYNOPSIS They flee to a building where films were once processed, because it is riddled with silver dust the loup-garou won't find them. Astrid, however, is smart enough to realize where Vivian went and corners them with a gun. Vivian pleads for Aiden's life, reminding Astrid of how important it is to be with someone you love, and Astrid (who is in love with Gabriel even though he is no longer her mate) lets them go. They get an antidote for Vivian by threatening a pharmacist, but the man manages to alert the pack to their presence and Vivian is captured. (see film for conclusion) Film making is a Community Event. AGNES BRUCKNER as Vivian HUGH DANCY as Aiden
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LIFE CONNECTIONS: BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE At its core, director von Garnier believes “Blood and Chocolate” is a love story wrapped in a thriller. “Even though the film has its frightening moments, it’s not specifically a horror film,” she comments. “In werewolf movies, often their transformation is a type of curse. In our movie, the transformation is something liberating and beautiful in nature. Also, the end result is a real wolf, not a fictitious beast.” Vivian and Aiden’s Relationship The meaning of Vivian and Aiden’s Relationship “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Carl Jung (1875 - 1961) On love and Transformation: “Women and men have to fight together to change society - and both will benefit... Partnership, not dependence, is the real romance in marriage.” --Muriel Fox On the Essence of Life as a Dangerous Romance: “Life is indeed dangerous, but not in the way morality would have us believe. It is indeed unmanageable, but the essence of it is not a battle. It is unmanageable because it is a romance, and its essence is romantic beauty.” --E. M. Forster (1879 - 1970), Howards End As created beings we bear the hallmark of the creative character of god.
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CRITICAL OPINION A silly werewolf movie without any fangs. -- Frank Scheck Hollywood Reporter The Free Speech Discussion of the Arts is a Mark of a Free Society There isn't enough absinthe in all of Romania to obliterate the taste of this clunker. -- Lael Loewenstein Los Angeles Times Based on a popular teen novel by Annette Curtis Klause, Blood and Chocolate revises classic werewolf legend and effectively neuters it in the process. -- Peter Debruge Variety The Reviews have only been about 10% positive. In one positive view, Joshua Tyler of Cinema Blend writes, “There's enough moral ambiguity in this human/werewolf romance to give it the depth necessary to keep the film from falling completely flat.”
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VISUAL HOLLYWOOD FILM REVIEW BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE By David Bruce The film is just as the director says it is: essentially, the transforming power of relationship. Werewolves are the “other” in our myths. They can represent aliens, outsiders, gays, foreigners, or whom ever. In older traditional stories werewolves were presented as mostly as “blood sucking enemies.” As the world has progressed toward the “global village” werewolves have evolved into symbols of integration (marriage to a werewolf is central in this story). I have some gay friends who related to it because of their desire for society to fully accept them regardless of their sexual orientation (Vivian hides her identity for fear being rejected by Aiden). Our stories of vampires and werewolves are changing, and for very understandable good reasons. This movie (and the young adult novel it is based on) encourages reconsideration of old prejudices and stereotypes. It encourages a better understanding and tolerance of the “other” whoever that might be for us. Art is the Language of Liberation
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FINDING TRUTH IN BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE Albert Einstein made this chilling observation: “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” He further stated, “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” Sadly George Aiken notes that “If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon.” Commit to eliminating prejudice from your very being. FEAR AND PREJUDICE IN A CHANGING WORLD FEAR: On the same note, producer Hawk Koch states, “There is fear and excitement in this film but I think there’s also a morality that has universal relevance.” PREJUDICE: The filmmakers cast actress Agnes Bruckner as Vivian, who sought to bring the “softer side” to the legend of the werewolf. “I think it is beautiful to express that side of this legend,” she says. “Werewolves are always thought of as these scary creatures but I think that this movie really shows that there is a whole other side of them. Wolves themselves are not evil – neither are loup garoux.”
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TRIVIA AND NEWS THE NOVEL and the MOVIE The movie plot roughly follows the novel, the names and personalities of most characters are kept the same but their backgrounds and relationships with each other have been changed around. The setting has been moved from America to Romania and the main characters are adults in their 20s instead of teenagers. Vivian's mother is alive and her father is killed in the novel; in the film both her parents are killed. In the book, Astrid and Gabriel were never mates. Rafe is neither their son nor Vivian's cousin. Also, Astrid is not Vivian's aunt and actually hates Vivian in the book. Vivian works at a chocolate and sweets shop (hence, the title) in the film; in the book she doesn't. Movie Making is the Convergence of Many Talents and Art Forms
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WHY MOVIES ARE SO IMPORTANT "The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions" --Albert Camus (Existentialist thinker. "The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions" --Albert Camus (Existentialist thinker). In “Movies and the Meaning of Life” author Kimberly Blessing points out that movies can help us reflect on five of life’s most important questions: 1) What is reality and how can I know it? 2) How can I find my true identity? 3) What the significance of my interactions with others? 4) What’s the point of my life? 5) How ought I to live my life? The idea behind Visual Hollywood is that Movies can and must play an essential role helping us explore the meaning of our existence and our life together. No other quest is more necessary or important. Movies are powerful. Movies bring personal meaning, and can contribute to a peaceful world. Cinematic story telling can be a transforming event. Visual Hollywood takes an existential approach to life. We celebrate with human freedom. We use movies and the arts as a means of understanding the human condition and our collective relation to the world around us. Our basic quest is: 1. To know what it means to be human in the world. 2. The pursuit of human freedom. To Restrict Creativity is to Restrict the very Nature of the Creator
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visual review by visualhollywood.com This Visual Hollywood work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial -ShareAlike 2.5 License. You may display this work on your own site. You are free: to copy, distribute, display under the following conditions: 1. Attribution - Credit VisualHollywood.com and make a web link. 2. Noncommercial - You may not use this work for commercial purposes. All film stills, trailers, video clips and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and may not be reproduced for any reason whatsoever. This review is © 2006 David Bruce. All rights reserved. "Visual Hollywood " is a trademark owned by David Bruce.
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