Around the turn of the century, a fading French circus clown, Georges Foottit (James Thiérrée) is having trouble booking a gig. His schtick is too old fashioned, he’s told, and so he hits on the idea of putting his “Whiteface” clown persona in the ring with a buffoonish “Auguste” clown partner – effectively inventing the straight man/idiot comedy duo.

Of course, he needs a partner. Enter “Chocolat” (Omar Sy), a former slave he finds playing an African cannibal in a regional circus. Recruiting the towering Chocolat to his cause, Foottit masterminds a new kind of live comedy, based on interplay and teamwork rather than solo physical stunts. Soon the pair are climbing the ladder of success and becoming the toast of Paris. But Chocolat is a black man – the first black clown in France, in fact – and the racism inherent in fin de siècle French society is just one of the hurdles the two must face.

Loosely adapting the life of the real Chocolat, actor turned director Roschdy Zem has not only created a rich, immersive behind-the-stage look at turn of the century Parisian stage life, but also an examination of the divisions that still lie at the heart of French society, no matter all the talk about liberté, égalité, and fraternité.

Race is obviously the chief talking point here – as Chocolat’s fame grows, he finds he is still subject to ridicule and oppression as a black man, and his status as an undocumented immigrant is used against him. His love affair with a white widow (Clotilde Hesme) is a scandal, and though his exotic looks and prodigious physical comedy chops make him a drawcard, it is because he is performing a parody of blackness – essentially an early model Stepin Fetchit – and this begins to weigh on him.

It’s this last which is the most interesting element, and plenty of debate has raged over the rights of minorities to use their perceived “otherness” to earn a payday – not to equate ethnicity with disability, but the rights of “freaks” to perform has been a point of contention in the circus world for decades now, with some performers claiming the current cultural climate has robbed them of their livelihood. Chocolat’s position in the film, of course, far more complex. As a black man in the spotlight, his performance affects how the world sees others like him, a fact brought to his attention by a politicised black prisoner, Victor (Alex Descas), when he is briefly jailed over his immigrant status (the film makes much of Chocolat’s precarious position in France, drawing obvious parallels with modern issues). Chocolat’s efforts to be taken seriously as an artist, and the public’s reaction to them, drive the drama in the film’s back half.

Which is all very well, but let us not forget that Chocolat the film is also hugely, endearingly entertaining, and that’s larely down to the central pairing of Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. Their routines in the ring are astounding. Sy made his bones as a comedian before moving into dramatic fare, but he shows a gift for physical comedy here that is simply prodigious, while Thiérrée, already an experienced circus performer, brings everything he has to bear on the routines. The pairing is perfect outside the ring as well, and the contrast between the naturally gifted but somewhat lazy Chocolat and the driven perfectionism of Foottit gives rise to conflict that is only leavened by the two characters’ obvious affection for each other, even as their differing goals drive them apart.

All up, Chocolat is a simply entrancing film that takes us to a little-explored corner of history and fills it with indelible characters wrestling with issues that are still relevant today. Don’t be put off by the subtitles or the period setting – this is one of the best films of the year.

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