British and French Colonies. Claire Denis Chocolat (1988) - Essay Example

? British and French Colonies Claire Denis’ Chocolat (1988) Introduction This was a very great movie which was produced in the late 20th century and gave a pretty good insight about the operations and nature of the colonial empires. It is a movie about a young lady from France, known as France Dalens, who decides to take a trip back to Cameroon, a West African country so that she can reflect back on her childhood days when she was living under the colonial rule (Bickford-Smith & Mendelsohn, 2007). One of her best memories was about their family’s house help whose name was Protee. He possessed a number of desirable traits which included being noble, handsome and extremely intelligent. This movie has a rich history about the colonial empires and it offers a lot of information about the French racial tensions and conflicts and that is the key focus of the following essay. This form of manipulation was portrayed in form of actions occurring in the fields rather than verbally. The French colonists practiced racism both publicly and privately. This was as a result of different people living in different areas and under different circumstances. The movie portrays a very serene environment where France and her family under the care of their father who was a captain in the French army (Beugnet, 2004). Their servants faced racial discrimination both in the house and in the fields. This was clearly manifested by the way the servants, who were all black Africans, were being treated. For example, the servants were forced to do everything in the public, which included taking a shower and eating among others. This was very immoral and unjust according to the societal norms. On the other hand, the whites did everything in private, including sleeping in their bedrooms, bathing in the bathrooms and eating in the dining rooms among others. The French colonial empire also caused unnecessary sexual attraction between members of the opposite sex. This was clearly manifested by Protee, the young boy servant and Aimee. The two were noted to like each other as a result of Aimee always seeing Protee taking a bath in the open field in front of the house. This sexual desire was as a result of the immoral actions brought about by colonialism. This state had both positive and negative effects on the subjects, for the poor little servant, it was a form of humiliation having to be seen naked all the time he decided to take a bath. On the flip side, it also had some positive effects, as from it, Aimee developed feelings towards him. The idea of having the power to rule over others led to a lot of conflicts and tensions both within and outside the house. For example, in the kitchen, the black African cook and Aimee had issues due to language barrier and power prevelance. Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players) The film is focused on various aspects that are characterized by social, political and economic elements in India in the beginning of the 19th century. The events that are focused on the movie are mainly drawn from the eve of the rebellion of India against the British powers in the year 1857 (Dube, 2005). These events included appropriation of the kingdom of Awadh by the British powers, politics that surrounded the development of the East India Company which was owned by the British colony and also the inevitable splitting up of the Indian royals. The film is composed of two stories that run concurrently. One is the story of the invasion of the Indian kingdoms by the British colonial powers and the second one is the reaction of two inseparable friends who are deep lovers of Chess. The two friends are so much into the game of chess to a point that they neglect their vital responsibilities including their families. The two go into exile to a village that is untroubled by the rising events caused by the invasion of the British colony so that they can play Chess in peace. The movie brings out various perceptions about the British colonial powers which include their superiority, friendliness and wealthy. The British colony is portrayed as an extremely powerful empire that has extraordinary powers in many ways. This can be supported by the fact that when the empire invades the Indian kingdoms, the leaders of the kingdoms find themselves with no choice rather than surrender. They believed that they could not fight with the British army and the only choice they had was to play along with whatever they introduced. This element of fear by the Indian kingdoms portrays how strong the British colonial empires were. The British Empire took control of the administration functions of almost all the sections of the kingdoms. They controlled all the operations of the landlords among other leaders. Although the British Empire entered India with so much authority and determination to conquer whatever they had planned, they also were considerate to a large extent. After the leader of the Awadh Kingdom realized that he could not match the strength of the British in terms of fighting resources such as soldiers and weapons, he decided to be diplomatic. The leader organizes for a friendly meeting that led to the signing of a friendship truce between the kingdom of Awadh and the British Empire. This demonstrates that the British colony was friendly an element that is uncharacteristic of many powerful empires. A powerful empire tends to be unfriendly with other weak entities since they believe they can get away with anything by use of their power and authority (Page & Sonnenburg, 2003). Another critical fact that can be learnt from the operations of the British colony in the movie was its wealthy. The colony was wealthy a factor that contributed a lot to its power and authority managed to conquer not only Kingdoms in India but most other places across the globe. In fact, the British Colony spread in most areas in the world more than any other colony (Deutschmann, 2011). Conclusion In conclusion, the ability of the colony to spread is associated with its wealth that it used to acquire strong armies, weapons and powerful technologies that would enable it to venture into new discoveries thus extending their superiority. The wealth also gave the political powers and an upper hand in negotiating peaceful treaties with other political systems. This is because any treaty that is between political systems must be geared towards mutual beneficial relationship rather than a parasitic relationship (Page & Sonnenburg, 2003). This played an essential role in the exceptional establishment of the British Empire in India kingdoms and other regions of the world. References Beugnet, M. (2004). Claire Denis. Manchester [u.a.: Manchester Univ. Press. Bottom of Form Top of Form Bickford-Smith, V., & Mendelsohn, R. (2007). Black and white in colour: African history on screen. Oxford: Currey [u.a.. Deutschmann, M. (2011). Edward Said and the Cultural History of British Colonialism in India. Mu?nchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH. Dube, R. (2005). Satyajit Ray's The chess players and postcolonial theory: Culture, labour, and the value of alterity. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Page, M. E., & Sonnenburg, P. M. (2003). Colonialism: An international, social, cultural, and political encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More