Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Isabelle Huppert and Anna Mougalis are outstanding, 19 Jun 2005
A film which starts, you imagine, as a nice French / Swiss comedy of manners as a rich, talented couple remarry after a separation of some twenty years or so. She is the owner of company which makes legendary drinking chocolate. He, André, is a concert pianist. They appear blissfully happy - she, Mika, had remained friends with his in-between wife, had comforted him after her tragic death, and had readily assumed the role of mother to his teenage son, Guillaume. Bliss.Enter a young music student, a tall elegantly beautiful young woman, Jeanne, who dreams of being a concert pianist. She learns from her mother that there had been mix-up at the hospital the night she was born, the famous concert pianist believing for a time that she was his child. She sets out to visit the pianist - with all the potential for dramatic (or even comic) tension as the happy families are torn apart. What she uncovers is the nature of evil. Mika, so sweet and helpful and caring, has a pathological disregard for others. She manipulates - with her wealth, her beauty, her charm, her sweetness, or any other weapon she can find. This is a beautifully made film. . As an exploration of evil, it has great quality. But it is a film which doesn't really work. You can see where the story is going, you can enjoy the building tension, but ultimately the conclusion feels a bit tame. Except, Mika sheds a tear for her loss. Her husband does not. You wonder if he is so anaesthetised to any emotion other than the ones he experiences through music that he must share complicity in her crimes. He is so absorbed in his own self-importance as maestro, he simply fails to engage in the world around him. The pair are, indeed, suited to one another, but which one is most responsible for her crimes? Claude Chabrol (Isabelle Huppert's husband) regularly makes liberal use of music in his films and this one is no exception. The direction of the piece echoes the changing mood of a concerto. The visuals are always elegant. And he celebrates his actors, particularly the female ones. This is an enjoyable film, and one which benefits from the 'making of' documentary and interview with Huppert which are offered as extras, but it is not Chabrol's best. A film to be enjoyed more for the quality of its acting than for its narrative satisfaction.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good French thriller with a somewhat rushed ending..., 13 Jan 2007
"Merci pour le chocolat", directed by Claude Chabrol, is an interesting French thriller with an abrupt ending, that is nonetheless worth your time. The reasons for that are many, including a superb cast, an engaging story, and a director that manages to make the spectator part of the story. You are not in the movie, but you feel involved in what is happening...
The story begins when Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis), a young and talented pianist, learns that she might be the lost daughter of André Polonski (Jacques Dutronc). Jeanne is intrigued by the idea, specially due to the fact that André is a very famous pianist, and she wants to learn from him. Jeanne visits André's house, meeting him, his new wife Mika (Isabelle Huppert), and a son from a previous marriage, Guillaume. Even though André is certain that Jeanne is not his daughter, he is interested in her, inviting the young woman to his home. That kind gesture sets off a chain of events that are dangerous, specially for Jeanne, and that could be linked to the death of André's previous wife, Lisbeth.
What is going to happen? And can appearances be utterly deceiving? "Merci pour le chocolat" makes you ask yourself those questions more than once. On the whole, I think that this is a very good movie, and I recommended it to those who love good thrillers and don't mind a somewhat rushed ending.
Belen Alcat
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27 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic...., 2 Aug 2002
And the story goes... Merci Pour le Chocolat (Nightcap)" is about Andre (Jacques Dutronc), a recently widowed concert pianist. He marries his wife's best friend, Mika (Isabelle Huppert), who is the CEO of a large chocolate factory. Just when domestic bliss appears apparent, in walks Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis), an 18-year-old piano prodigy who may be Andre's daughter. Her presence not only upsets his son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly), but also Mika... An excellent film that reminds to us how important is the script for a good movie. Also, I give 5 for the actors and the photography. Watch it.
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