Like Water for Chocolate- Amy Thompson

In this movie there were so many things that I would consider to be 'Magic Realism'.

Tita was born the youngest daughter, destined to take care of her mother until she died. From the start, you could tell that Tita and her mother had a very angry relationship with each other. From this point on, Tita's emotions are exemplified in the film. She was able to transfer her emotions into the food she was eating (an insight that I learned from another fellow student!). For example, the cake that she was making for Pedro and Rosaura's wedding had her tears in it, and after everyone ate it they were overcome with her sorrow, and even got physically sick! Later in the film, Tita was able to feed Pedro and Rosaura's baby with her breast milk, even though she was a virgin. This was an example of magic realism in that she was longing to have a baby with Pedro.

When Pedro and Rosaura moved away and Tita later found out that their baby died, Tita had a mental breakdown, only to be cured later by a 'magic broth' and was brought out of her depression.

The scene which I think had the most significant magic realism message was when Pedro dies from being overcome by his emotions for Tita, and how Tita eats the sulfur tips of some matches to kill herself to finally be with Pedro. The scene was so strong and showed the intensity (with all of the candles, burning bright) of Tita and Pedro's love for one another.

All in all I enjoyed this film and it was neat to see all of the magic realism that the film showed. It's always nice to see things in not such a harsh reality sometimes!