Merci Pour Le Chocolat (DVD)

Pianist Andre Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) and Marie-Claire Muller, fondly known as Mika (Isabelle Huppert) have just married for the second time. Andre has an eighteen-year-old son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly), from another marriage; Guillaume's mother Lisbeth died in a car crash on his tenth birthday. When a wedding photo of Andre and Mika appears in the newspaper, Jeanne Pollet (Anna Mouglalis) is told by her boyfriend's mother that she was born ...
...and that the two babies were briefly switched in a confusion by the nurses. Jeanne's mother Louise (Brigitte Catillon) has always kept this a secret from Jeanne, but the daughter, herself a piano student, is intrigued and begins to wonder if she might in reality be Polonski's daughter.

Jeanne takes matters into her own hands, as there could be much to gain for her from an association with Polonski. She forces her way past Guillaume ... more

Pianist Andre Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) and Marie-Claire Muller, fondly known as Mika (Isabelle Huppert) have just married for the second time. Andre has an eighteen-year-old son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly), from another marriage; Guillaume's mother Lisbeth died in a car crash on his tenth birthday. When a wedding photo of Andre and Mika appears in the newspaper, Jeanne Pollet (Anna Mouglalis) is told by her boyfriend's mother that she was born on the same day in the same clinic as Guillaume and that the two babies were briefly switched in a confusion by the nurses. Jeanne's mother Louise (Brigitte Catillon) has always kept this a secret from Jeanne, but the daughter, herself a piano student, is intrigued and begins to wonder if she might in reality be Polonski's daughter.

Jeanne takes matters into her own hands, as there could be much to gain for her from an association with Polonski. She forces her way past Guillaume at the Polonski's front door, unperturbed by the fact that Andre says he does not know her. After explaining who she is, Andre is immediately fascinated by the fact that Jeanne resembles Guillaume's mother and is also a budding pianist with considerable talent. He decides to take her under his wing; his interest is understandable since Guillaume is showing no direction in his life and is a disappointment to his father. Almost as soon as she enters the household, however, Jeanne senses that there is more to Mika than the stylish, seemingly well-mannered lady of the house who is also director of the Muller Chocolate company. When Mika knocks over a flask of hot chocolate that she has made specially for Guillaume, Jeanne helps to mop up and some of the liquid stains her jumper. Jeanne's suspicions about Mika have been aroused, and she asks her boyfriend Axel (Mathieu Simonet) to analyse the chocolate stain at her mother's clinic, where he works.

Director Claude Chabrol based 'Merci pour le Chocolat' ('Thank you for the Chocolate', also known as 'Nightcap') on the novel 'The Chocolate Cobweb' by Charlotte Armstrong. Chabrol gives us a tense psychological drama, presenting us with an array of characters in the opening scenes and swiftly narrowing things down to the interaction between a close-knit hub of major players. Skilful as it is, I did feel that elements of the film were contrived and that the outcome was fairly predictable. 'Merci pour le Chocolat' is not, however, about plot but about the inner workings of the mind of a woman who describes herself as a 'hanger-on': a woman who, rather than actually loving, says she loves people - and they believe her.

Isabelle Huppert gives a superb performance as Mika, cool and calculating, yet composed, elegant and outwardly charming, feigning a desire to help others. Whilst on the phone to Jeanne's mother, I loved the way she sat on the edge of a table, swinging one leg in her high heels, oozing generosity to the other woman. Mika is a wealthy woman but not a talented one; she appears to offer hospitality whilst under the surface she needs to have certain people under her own roof in order to be in control and carry out her plans.

Jacques Dutronc as Andre Polonski was less impressive for me. I found it hard to be convinced by Mika and Andre as a couple: she is so scheming and stylish, whilst he, apart from his devotion to the piano, seems a weak personality as well as a sloppy dresser. I felt I should have had more compassion for him, as Jeanne resembles his previous wife, Lisbeth, so much and reminds him of the happiness he had with her. He didn't, however, stir up the appropriate emotions in me, and once or twice I felt as though I wanted to give him a good shake.

Anna Mouglalis as the young Jeanne Pollet gives an admirable performance. From the outset she appears vivacious and confident, with a mature richness in her voice and a spring in her step. She knows what she wants and takes every advantage of the opportunity that comes her way. Rodolphe Pauly as Guillaume Polonski has a difficult role to play as a young man who is aimless. He resents the arrival of Jeanne, seeing her as a threat since she seems to think she may be Andre's real daughter. He often wears a blank expression, and tears do not come easily to him. I certainly felt that the women outclassed the men in this film, and I should also mention Brigitte Catillon as Jeanne's mother who deals admirably with a visit from Mika as well as showing how difficult it is to reveal long-standing painful secrets to a daughter on the threshold of adulthood.

The film was shot in Switzerland and the cinematography is beautiful, at all times very carefully considered. There are lakeside shots as well as reflections of interiors in polished grand-piano lids. Considerable use is made of shots were two characters in a tense or emotional dialogue are both seen fully facing the camera, one of them therefore giving their back to the other as though what is being said is too sensitive to allow for face-to-face confrontation.

Piano music obviously plays a large part in 'Merci pour le Chocolat', with Franz Liszt's ominous 'Les Funerailles' being the dominant and recurring theme that complements the tense atmosphere. Music by Debussy, Chopin, Mahler, Scriabine and Schubert also features in the film.

There is a version of the DVD that contains several special features, including an interview with Isabelle Huppert, Anna Mouglasis' screen test and a 'making of' documentary, but unfortunately my copy of the DVD does not have any extras.

I was expecting great things from this film, firstly as I can still remember how impressed I was by Chabrol's 'Le Boucher' in my student days. More recently I have watched Isabelle Huppert in 'The Piano Teacher' and felt that her performance was one of the most wonderful I have ever seen. I was slightly disappointed by 'Merci pour le Chocolat', partly as I have said because there were incidents that seemed contrived and also because of predictability. It did not initially make sense to me that it took Jeanne a matter of minutes to realise that Mika was scheming, whilst those close to her were either unaware or ignored the fact. I found it hard to decide whether to give it three stars or four, but having found a second viewing to be worthwhile, I'm giving it four. It is not a film for everyone, as its strengths are not in the action or the plot. The character of Mika is the focal point, but I still felt that those around her needed a little more intensity.

Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress at the Montreal Film Festival in 2000 for her performance is Mika. Claude Chabrol won the Prix Louis Delluc for best director in the same year. The film has a 15 certificate.

Also to be published on other review sites - Dooyoo as frangliz. 

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