Continuity mistake: In one scene, Alfred Molina's character forgets he should have a French accent and speaks to the minister, who is gardening, with his best London accent for the whole scene. It's very obvious - the whole cinema started laughing. (01:05:00)
Other mistake: When the priest is singing to himself in the garden, you can hear a person off camera say "go" just before the mayor enters.
Continuity mistake: While Vianne talks to Reynaud on his first visit to the shop she wipes the counter with the left or with the right hand, depending on the camera angle. (00:07:45)
Continuity mistake: When Armande comes to the shop the second time Vianne pours some hot chocolate for her. In close-up the handle is turned to the other side. (00:23:40)
Continuity mistake: At the end of Armande's first visit to the chocolate shop Anouk starts writing her name on the dirty window. Then Armande leaves, and Anouk is seen standing somewhere else. In the next shot Anouk is writing the last letter. (00:06:05)
Continuity mistake: When Mr. Blérot confesses, the partition grid throws a shadow on his face. The shadow of the horizontal bars comes and goes from shot to shot. (00:40:45)
Continuity mistake: When Caroline types a letter for the Count, the position of the paper in the typewriter is different depending on the camera angle. (00:09:30)
Continuity mistake: When Roux and the little girl from his boat first enter the bar the little girl's hair is down. Then, after the bartender says "I don't serve animals" and it shoots back to the little girl, her bangs are pulled back. Then, when Vianne invites them into the shop, her hair is down again. (01:05:08)
Continuity mistake: When Mme. Muscat comes to the shop to pay Vianne back, her braided hair is neatly parted in the middle. Inside the shop, there is no part at all. (00:33:35)
Continuity mistake: When Roux comes to Vianne's shop for the first time he stands at the counter. When she offers him some chocolate he is positioned around the corner although he seems to stay put during the scene. (01:04:00)
Continuity mistake: When Reynaud comes to the shop for the first time Vianne is wiping the counter. When he enters she stops wiping, standing at the end. When the camera angle changes she is standing at the middle of the counter. (00:07:10)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Reynaud destroys the chocolate shop's window display, he gets some chocolate on his lower lip. In the wide shot, the chocolate is high up on his lip, but when it changes to a closeup of his mouth there is a large drop square in the middle of the lip. (01:47:35)
Continuity mistake: At the end when Vianne, Roux, and Anouk are having hot chocolate in the chocolaterie Roux picks up a cup and starts drinking. In the next shot when Anouk is standing at the door and the camera is looking into the shop you can see in the background Vianne handing Roux another cup of hot chocolate. She wouldn't need to do that because he had already started drinking in the previous shot.
Continuity mistake: When Reynoud comes to the shop for the first time, Anouk plays pirate attack with her hair tucked behind the ear. After she fires at him, her hair is all hanging straight. (00:07:00)
Continuity mistake: When Blérot approaches the three ladies in front of Vianne's shop his scarf is hanging with both ends equally long. When he enters the shop the left end is longer, and also the way his hair is stuck to his forehead is different. (00:19:15)
Continuity mistake: When Luc is seen painting sitting on his bed his parting is on the right. When he looks out of the window it's on the left, and when his mother tends his bleeding nose it's on the right again. (00:15:05)
Continuity mistake: Reynaud is having some hot, steaming lemon water at his desk. When he pokes into the lemon to get the juice out there is no steam visible, but when he takes the first sip it's steaming again. (00:49:45)
Continuity mistake: When Anouk rotates the magic plate for the lady customer (the one who gets chocolate for her undersexed husband) the plate is shown at different spots of the counter in close-up and wide shots. (00:12:40)
Continuity mistake: When Juliette Binoche is packing her bags to leave the town and has her red cloak on, a large tendril of hair keeps changing position across and behind and in front of her right ear.
Continuity mistake: The undersexed gent's wife throws the bag with chocolate on the floor. When he finds it a little later it's lying at a different spot. (00:15:55)
Answer: The mayor is resistant to any change and tries to subvert any influence that threatens its traditions.
raywest