Written by:
Pam Huwig
Soft and smooth, devilishly sweet and, at its best, messy. Chocolate is a universal pleasure--what could be better?
Award-winning screenwriter Peggy Thompson explores that question with the film Better than Chocolate. "Love and humor cross all boundaries--as much as some try, it can't be escaped when it grabs you," she says.
A sexy romp, this romantic comedy is a testament to the fact that love is the best sugar rush of all. Set in Thompson's hometown, Vancouver, B.C., the film follows recent college dropout Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) in her search for freedom and self-truth. While juggling her jobs at a local girl bar and a lesbian bookstore, Maggie gets a call from her frantic mother, Lilia (Wendy Crewson). Having recently left her philandering husband, Lilia says she needs to move into Maggie's loft--immediately.
The same day, Maggie meets Kim (Christina Cox), an ambitious artist who lives out of a colorful but rundown old delivery truck. With sparks flying and hormones raging, the two are destined for romance.
"Even though the film is a fantasy in some ways," says Thompson, "there isn't anything more real than watching two people who are falling-all-over-themselves-in love."
On the eve of Lilia's arrival, Kim conceives of a new art project to document her "first time" with Maggie. In a delightfully erotic scene, the two paint one another's every bare curve and roll together on an oversized canvas.
"You know they make edible body paint, don't you?" Thompson asks playfully. While the scene is sensual in every sense, it also depicts the interwoven relationship between passion, art and loss of inhibition.
Shy and loveable Maggie struggles to free herself of that inhibition while searching for a way to come out to her sexually frustrated, chocolate-craving mother. Her seemingly unsolvable plight threatens her relationship with Kim, and Maggie is forced to make a life-altering decision.
"Coming out is a rite of passage. My experience with my parents was difficult," recalls Thompson. It took a few years, but finally she worked it out. "Whether it's about sexuality or whatever, everyone has secrets and it's usually just best to 'fess up," she says. "In a sense, honesty is an art."
Born and raised in an eclectic area of Vancouver known as Commercial Drive, Thompson says she's been in love with art as long as she remembers: "Writing is a cornerstone of my life....when I'm not writing, something seems out of balance," she confesses. "There's something therapeutic and even spiritual about working alone in my pajamas everyday and developing the characters who, after a while, seem like family."
Through her colorful cast of characters, Thompson introduces the audience to a spectrum of personalities--from Judy, a transgendered lesbian nightclub singer looking for love, to Carla, a fun-loving bi girl who plays it wild and fast.
"Judy takes advice from Lilia to 'lunge after' what she wants. While I incorporate that philosophy in my own life," says Thompson, "I am very British, so I suggest people lunge, but lunge with care."
The "40-something" Thompson says she's thrilled that audiences are enjoying the film. "After the premiere at the San Francisco [International Lesbian and Gay] Film Festival, people went wild, clapping and cheering.
"And although the story revolves around two lesbians, word has it that it's becoming something of a straight date movie as well," she adds.
The film won the People's Choice Awards at the 1999 London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
The film also sports a sexy soundtrack, with songs by several lesbian favorites such as Ani DiFranco, Bif Naked and Ferron. After seeing a screening of the film, singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan was excited to give Thompson the go-ahead to include her song "Ice Cream," with namesake lyrics "Your love is better than chocolate."
"Sarah is such a great gal and committed artist, it was a wonderful shot in the arm for us to get that song," says Thompson.
Early in the project, producer Sharon McGowan suggested working with a focus group to test audience responses to the story.
"For three years, we met with women...from biochemists to fanzine pornographers. Unanimously, the group said they love seeing sex toys, sex toys, sex toys!" laughs Thompson. (That may explain some things, like why a hanging potted plant has sprouted a dildo in one scene.)
It took 10 long years and lots of hard work to bring Better than Chocolate to the big screen. "People asked me if I had lost my mind for wanting to make such a film. There were times I started to wonder, 'Why the hell am I doing this?'" says Thompson.
Her voice lifts as she remarks, "But at those times, Saeao [her lover of 20 years] would laughingly ask me, 'You're an artist, what the hell else would you do?' The bottom line is when you decide to follow your artistic path, you have to keep bouncing back."
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