Synopsis
Tita is passionately in love with Pedro, but her controlling mother forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares, infecting all who eat it with her intense heartbreak.
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Cast
- Marco LeonardiPedro Muzquiz
- Lumi CavazosTita
- Regina TornéElena
- Ada CarrascoNacha
- Mario Iván MartínezDoctor John Brown
- Claudette MailléGertrudis
- Yareli ArizmendiRosaura
- Joaquín GarridoSergeant Treviño
- Pilar ArandaChencha
- Rodolfo AriasJuan Alejándrez
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Like Water for Chocolate creates its own intense world of passion and romance, and adds a little comedy and a lot of quail, garlic, honey, chiles, mole, cilantro, rose petals and corn meal. - 100
Washington Post
The title may be a mouthful but Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. Hauntingly and exquisitely prepared, this Mexican adult fairy tale is garnished with mystery and wonder. - 90
The New York Times
Food and passion create a sublime alchemy in Like Water for Chocolate, a Mexican film whose characters experience life so intensely that they sometimes literally smolder. - 89
Austin Chronicle
Like Water for Chocolate, a simmering cauldron of romance and revolution, passion and purity, mysticism and witticism, is a powerful and heady brew. - 80
Empire
An enchanting story played out by a great female cast, particularly Cavazos as the poor Tita, and unique visuals from Arau. With equal parts melodrama, comedy, tragedy and cookery, Like Water For Chocolate adapts well from script to screen, unlike most Hollywood attempts. - 80
Time Out
It's overlong, but that reflects the nature of Mexican cooking: like water for chocolate, which must be brought to the boil three times, the characters continually bubble and boil over. - 75
ReelViews
Odd, playful, and sweet. It equates the boiling point of water for hot chocolate with the height of passion. With occasional surrealistic fantasy sequences interspersed between the commonplace goings-on of regular lives, the film weaves a subtle spell of enchantment -- until a disappointing conclusion. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Though one wonders if Arau couldn't have found more visual parallels for Esquivel's narrative, overall the film is a witty, charming diversion that struck a chord with audiences.