Merci Pour le Chocolat
by Claude Chabrol
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anna Mouglalis, Brigitte Catillon, Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Rodolphe PaulyDirector: Claude Chabrol
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
Movie Reviews of Merci Pour le Chocolat
Movie Review: Spilled chocolat
Summary: 4 Stars
Simply put, a cold case is an old case where evidence and suspicions have dried up, and is virtually impossible to solve unless there are new developments.
And a clever cold case lies at the heart of Claude Chabrol's "Merci Pour Le Chocolat," a quietly intense little movie that allows nothing but the actors to carry the plot forward, and maintain suspense. No overwrought soundtracks or theatrics here -- it's a very slow, subtle build of tension and suspicion, with the brilliant Huppert gracefully carrying it along.
As the film opens, legendary pianist Andr? Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) is remarrying his first wife, Marie-Claire "Mika" Muller (Isabelle Huppert), a chocolate magnate.
Elsewhere, a budding pianist named Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis) is a wee bit thrilled to find that she may have been switched at birth with Polonski's son. She goes to see him, and is warmly welcomed -- but her suspicions are oddly stoked a she sees Mika deliberately spilling the hot chocolate. Tests reveal that (drumroll please) there was a sleeping drug in it. So why's Mika doing this?
As Jeanne is taught by Andre at his home, Mika continues to hang around acting weird. The young woman becomes more and more suspicious of Mika's past behavior, especially when Andre's son Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly) tells her how his mother died. But Jeanne's suspicions may be putting herself -- and others -- in danger...
Often suspense movies are turned into thrillers, and the bad guy always acts sinister and practically has "Evil" stamped over his face. Fortunately Chabrol doesn't resort to cliches or shortcuts -- there's not a single dramatic crescendo, crazy camera angle or brandished knife in the entire movie. The characters don't even raise their voices.
Instead, Chabrol films the entire movie in a very understated way -- it's almost like watching a long home video. Lots of quiet, realistic scenes of understated conversation and unembellished camerawork, and rarely even a soundtrack except for the exquisitely-played "Fun?railles." Even the setting -- amongst the refined moneyed in a large country house -- is kept unembellished. It feels like looking into another person's life.
But he's still able to build quiet, subtle tension that shows in a hundred tiny ways, and the inevitable climax -- while wonderfully suspenseful -- is no less quiet. And Chabrol also drops plenty of little unanswered mysteries along the way -- such as Jeanne's parentage, Mika's motives, and so on. Those with short attention spans will be quickly bored, but it's fascinating to see how realistic he made this.
Isabelle Huppert is undeniably the queen of this movie -- she's quiet, friendly and inscrutable, with a faint undercurrent of jealousy whenever Jeanne is around. Dutronc is almost as good as the friendly, world-famous pianiste who starts seeing cracks in his seemingly perfect life, while Pauly and Mouglalis both do solid jobs as the dissatisfied son and the bright young musician.
"Merci Pour Le Chocolat" is a refined, old-fashioned suspense movie that relies on the actors rather than Hollywoodized gimmicks. A small treasure, though not for those who need thrills and spills.
Summary of Merci Pour le Chocolat
Chabrol, the most Hitchcockian of the New Wave directors, has fashioned a delectable psychological thriller that rivals his classics La Ceremonie, Madame Bovary, The Story of Women, and Les Biches. MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT is vintage Charbrol, with intricate plots that wend their way in a playful yet suspenseful manner through the elegant homes of several well-heeled French-Swiss in Lausanne, Switzerland. Starring renowned actress Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher; 8 Women; School of Flesh), and co-starring French singing legend Jacques Dutronc (Vincent).Isabelle Huppert stars as Mika, the oh-so-perfect head of a company than manufactures Swiss chocolate; Jacques Dutronc is Andre, her suave, concert pianist husband whose previous wife died years ago in a mysterious car accident. How is it that Andre's teenage son has no musical talent, while the stunning Jeanne, who shares his birthday, is already a world-class pianist? And why does Huppert insist that everyone sip the hot chocolate she prepares so faithfully each evening? Chabrol has fashioned a delectable mystery, dipped in darkest Swiss chocolate.
With quiet dialogue, an understated mis-en-scene, and extraordinary acting, Chabrol has once again given us an enjoyable treat of a mystery, one that gleefully references Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang... and Claude Chabrol.
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