Lasse Hallstrom, when filming Chocolat was not universally known. He came in the wake of other Scandinavian actors and directors and made his mark on the American movie industry. Interestingly enough, Chocolat is the only movie he ever made that could be described as truly European, and not even Scandinavian at that.
His journey began in his home country of Sweden, where he became famous through directing a documentary and some music videos for the international pop sensations ABBA. Lasse Hallstrom never seems to care where his material comes from, as long as it speaks to him personally. With Chocolat he found a haunting story that needed little work. In an interview he stated that he tried to keep the multilayered nature of the book and give each character their shining moment on screen. It is this insistence by the director that makes it so hard to find a true main character in the movie.
Lasse Hallstrom is known to focus on the individual, to dig deep to find the emotions that motivate the actions. This can be seen in Chocolat in the actions of most characters and that the story is intensely character driven. There is no outward force that keeps the characters going, there is only their own emotions and their rational reactions to these. This is true for Hallstrom's first movie My Life as a Dog and continues to be true for Chocolat.
