Despite the festival atmosphere of the opening scene's wedding, Mika (Isabelle Huppert) seems uncomfortable with the crowd at the reception, and eager to get away. But this marriage late in life between Mika, the head of a large chocolate manufacturer, and André (Jacques Dutronc), a concert pianist, is newsworthy, and before she can slip away with André and her stepson, a journalist captures a photo of the couple. This photo sparks a chain of events that lead to revelations in another family: young Jeanne learns of a mix-up at her birth and that of André's son that calls into question the true identity of her parents. An unlikely possibility, to be sure... but something draws her to seek out André. And in turn, Jeanne is drawn into the inner workings of a family where all is not as it seems.

Merci pour le chocolat develops as a competent mystery thriller. Several interesting elements are woven together in an intriguing way, and the motivations of the characters are hinted at but not laid bare. All of the characters have secrets of some kind: Jeanne and her boyfriend Axel, Jeanne's mother Dr. Pollet, Mika. Some of these secrets are revealed to others, and some are not; in any case, all the characters seem to have potentially complicated motivations. For instance, does Jeanne really suspect that André is her father, or is she just interested in the story as an excuse to meet the famous pianist? Why is Mika interested in Jeanne? The only "innocent" in the film is André himself: devoted to his music, he barely suspects the winds of intrigue and conflict that are rising around him.

All in all, Merci pour le chocolat is a well-constructed film, introducing its main characters effectively, and moving steadily along with the story developing nicely. All the actors offer realistic and subtle performances; it's quite believable that there's more going on under the surface than we can see. Our suspicions are raised early in the film, which draws us into the film as we try to keep an eye open for more clues to what's going on, and the film rewards us by developing the situation steadily almost all the way to the end.

I say "almost" all the way to the end, because the ending of the film is the one point where the film stumbles. Merci pour le chocolat builds effectively up to the conclusion of the film... but there it falls short of expectations, failing to wrap up the various plot threads in an interesting and satisfying manner. Basically, the film just... stops. One of the mysteries of the plot has been revealed at this point, though most viewers will probably have pieced together the story on their own by then; however, another major plot point (regarding Mika and her stepson) is completely ignored. It's possible to make some guesses about what's going on in the unresolved parts of the story, but without any real supporting evidence from the film itself, they're just guesses.

The DVD

Video

Merci pour le chocolat is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, not anamorphically enhanced. The image is very clean, with no noise appearing in the picture, and only a few scattered print flaws. Fairly heavy edge enhancement is apparent in the image, though it's not as distracting as it might have been, since much of the film is presented in close-up shots. The most noticeable problem is that the colors are off: everything is slightly faded and has a brownish tint to it. Overall, it's watchable, but not completely natural-looking.

The English subtitles are burned-in, unfortunately. On the bright side, the subtitles are clear and easy to read, in white letters with a thin black outline, and are grammatically correct and accurate.

Audio

The original French Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is satisfactory. While the sound tends to be a little on the flat side, the dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. A slight degree of distortion appears in some notes of the piano sequences, but apart from that, the sound is clean.

Extras

A trailer for the film is included, along with three trailers for other First Run Films releases. A text introduction from director Claude Chabrol discusses the themes of the film; it's a little overly theoretical for my tastes, but may interest those who are fans of the famous director. The DVD also includes a photo gallery, cast and crew information, and information on First Run Features and Empire Films.

Final thoughts

Merci pour le chocolat is an entertaining, well-constructed thriller, though ultimately a bit unsatisfying, with its conclusion that sidesteps resolving some elements of the plot. It's worth seeing, though with its so-so transfer quality I would lean more toward a rental than a purchase.