Consuming Passions (1988)

A tragic mishap at a chocolate factory results in candy lovers getting an unexpected 'extra' in their sweets. The problem is that they want more!

Director:

Giles Foster

Writers:

Michael Palin (play), Terry Jones (play),

Stars:

Tyler Butterworth, Jonathan Pryce, Freddie Jones

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyler Butterworth	...	Ian Littleton
Jonathan Pryce	...	Mr.Farris
Freddie Jones	...	Graham Chumley
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Mrs.Garza
Prunella Scales	...	Ethel
Sammi Davis	...	Felicity
Thora Hird	...	Mrs.Gordon
John Wells	...	Dr.Forrester
Timothy West	...	Dr.Rees
Bryan Pringle	...	Gateman
Mary Healey	...	Mrs Eggleston
Andrew Sachs	...	Jason
Deddie Davies	...	Mrs Coot
William Rushton	...	Big Teddy
Wincey Willis	...	TV Presenter

Storyline

At his new job at Chumley's Chocolates, Ian Littleton accidentally knocks several workers into a mixing vat, the contents of which are then sent to market. When reviews of the company's new candy come back, they are overwhelmingly negative, except for the areas that received the 'special ingredient'. Ian soon finds himself assigned the task of obtaining more of the ingredient to satisfy the nation's sweet tooth.

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Plot Keywords:

chocolate | chocolate factory | factory | cannibalism | food | 

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Taglines:

A tale of greed, lust and death by chocolate.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1992 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

A Louca Doçura

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$118,206 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euston Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Secrets (1973)

User Reviews

Tasty satire missing some important ingredients...

Exploring themes that have been covered before to varying degrees of success by Sondheim (SWEENEY TODD) and director Antonia Bird in the even darker horror-comedy RAVENOUS, PASSIONS is a marvelous concept, but it seems as if something got lost in the translation from play to screenplay. Pythonites take heed; Terry Jones and Michael Palin wrote the play SECRETS, then adapted that for the screenplay, but this is Swiftian satire that's pitch black even by Python's standards.

I guess a considerable part of what the problems are with this movie lie in Giles Foster's direction. He doesn't seem to be sure if he's making an all-out slap-schticky farce, or a savage "veddy-veddy" British comedy of human foibles and frailties. In trying to give us the best of both worlds, the film suffers instead from a kind of unfocused schizophrenia.

What wonders would have been wrought if Terry Gilliam had directed, and Palin had taken the starring role (which seems to be written for him anyway), thereby completing the Python connection? Alas, we'll never know, but as it is, it's not half bad, and you could do MUCH worse.