Merci Pour le Chocolat: Amazon.ca: Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Anna Mouglalis, Rodolphe Pauly, Brigitte Catillon, Michel Robin, Mathieu Simonet, Lydia Andrei, V�ronique Alain, Isolde Barth, Jacqueline Burnand, Fran�ois Germond, Claude Chabrol, G�rard Ruey, Jean-Louis Porchet, Marin Karmitz, Yvon Crenn, Caroline Eliacheff, Charlotte Armstrong: DVD

Tag this product

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good French thriller with a somewhat rushed ending..., Jan 12 2007

By

M. B. Alcat "Curiosity killed the cat, but sa... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Merci Pour le Chocolat (DVD)

"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

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, brilliant Huppert, Feb 19 2004

By

Nichomachus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merci Pour le Chocolat (DVD)

I first encountered Isabelle Huppert in LE PIANISTE, and was excitedly anticipating this film. Her ability to communicate repressed rage and a rigid adherence to social convention is awe-inspiring. She never turns the facade into a cliche, even in this unsympathetic role. She is just as wonderful in this film as in THE PIANO TEACHER, although her characters are quite different.

This one, Mika, is not as fully developed and explored. Director Charbol merely gives you a taste of the morbid, paranoid, obsessive and ultimately violent character. Huppert delicately conceals the true Mika behind the practiced visage of the wealthy and socially-connected corporate executive. No overt smugness or irony reveals to you the true depth of her anti-social sentiment, self-loathing, and hatred.

The film notes only glibly discusses the character (as aflicted by "perversion"), and I think the film itself only approaches her, never exploring or embracing her. There is something more complex at work than the corruption or debasement perversion implies. The full-blown personality disorder on display gives us a glimpse of the "non-persons" lacking the ego, or sense of personhood, that makes their 'normal' (often perfectionist) behavior calculated mimicry. We catch only a glimpse of that her, I believe.

Although I'm only giving it three stars, I still think this is a fascinating movie well worth seeing (I won't belabor the "Hitchcockian Tradition" rhetoric). Isabelle Huppert is brilliant, and this performance should be savored. However, its pretentiously abrupt ending, as well as its inability to successfully incorporate the piano element (the portentous use of Liszt's "Funérailles" seemed ineffective to me) detracted from the overall impact.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars A sleek and entertaining thriller with the great Huppert, Feb 18 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Merci Pour le Chocolat (DVD)

This French psychological thriller by former new-wave auteur, Claude Chabrol follows a famous pianist Andre Polonksi, his wife Mika (Isabelle Huppert) a chocolate heiress whose never without a menacing cup of hot chocolate, and a radiant young pianist who believes herself to be Polonski's long lost daughter. Huppert's Mika makes for a fierce portrayal of perverse matriarchy and like her emotionally scarred woman in the Piano Teacher, she is melancholically aware enough of her perversity to jolt the audience with a twinge of sympathy. The movie's biggest asset, however, may be that Chabrol skillfully lets you in on its secret immediately. From the beginning, there is no doubt that Mika poisons people with hot chocolate, and by revealing such, I'm not taking anything away from the enjoyment of the film. Its pleasures arrive via the compelling characters, taut dialogue, beautiful upper-class French locales, and sleekly edited progression of events, giving the movie considerable repeat value. Hence why the final denouement is not (and should not be) as fun as simply watching these characters seek, calculate, and kill.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 5 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews 3.9 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars What's sweet now turns so sour...
There was a time when you couldn't swing a wedge of cave-aged gruyere around at the theatre without hitting yet another "Hitchcockian" French thriller (circa "The... Read more

Published on Dec 22 2003 by D. Hartley

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Huppert does it again
The film isn't meant to be typically suspenseful. Isabelle Huppert plays the wife of a well known pianist whom she's known for years. Read more

Published on July 3 2003 by D. Parker