Directed by Claudio Cupellini “Lezioni di Cioccolato” or Lessons in Chocolate is a romantic comedy that has a bit of everything. Considering it is the director’s first venture, the movie is quite entertaining and has the right amounts of comedy, making it neither too sloppy nor too serious in tone, which is surprising for a new director, as comedies are not easy to make. The story scripted by Fabio Bonifacci along with Christian Poli offers a good blend of characters and the dialogues are just right and suit the characters they are made for. Although the story is not much different from the regular movie stuff, it is distinctive in the way the script is handled and how the characters are portrayed in it.
Mattia (Luca Argentero), a smart 32-year old building contractor, is a man of few morals. He believes in providing work at the cheapest and will not stop at anything to make money the illegal way. As part of his unscrupulous ways, he tries to save money wherever he can, including saving money on labor. So Mattia has hired an illegal worker from Egypt, Kamal (Hassani Shapi), to work for him in his construction business. He has just hit upon a new contract where he has to build a luxury weekend resort at a budget of 300,000 Euros, but as is common with him, Mattia works out how to save money from the project. He decides that cutting down on costs by eliminating the scaffolding will save him a handsome packet.
During the construction work, Kamal falls off the roof due to a non-presence of scaffolding and injures himself badly ending up with plasters on his body, waist upwards. Mattia tries to bribe Kamal into not divulging the information to the police, as he will get into trouble for ordering poor construction work, but Kamal will not oblige easily. Kamal who was a pastry chef back at home in Egypt, had come to Italy with the dream of opening his own chocolate shop here. He has won himself an entry to a chocolate making course at a Perugian factory, which if he completes will enable him to realize his dream. However with the accident happening just when he has to begin this diploma course, Kamal sees his dream fading away.
Lezioni Di Cioccolato
Desperate to get the diploma, Kamal hits upon a good idea to blackmail his shrewd boss. He asks Mattia to act as him (Kamal) and get him the prestigious diploma that he seeks by attending the advanced course in chocolate making offered by the Perugian factory. Mattia has no other option than to takes up the chocolate making course although he has not a clue of how chocolates are made. He has to compete with five other contestants, all of whom are trained in chocolate making. The comedy that erupts here with him trying to be Kamal and pretending that he knows how to make chocolate is all too endearing. Also among the contestants is the beautiful Cecilia Ferri (Violante Placido) who Mattia gets attracted to during the course.
We see the devious Mattia turning into a different person altogether during the course of this period. He turns from a perceptive building contractor to a chocolate making lover boy balancing his two different roles in a manner that is not only enjoyable, but also intelligent and humorous both at the same time. There has been some great acting from the film cast, which makes the movie all the more pleasant to watch. In overall, Lezioni do Cioccolato is sincerely a better film as compared to some of the dragging and sometimes vulgar comedies that we are exposed to today.
Director: Claudio Cupellini
Cast: Luca Argentero, Violante Placido, Neri Marcore, Hassani Shapi, Monica Scattini, Francesco Pannofino
Country: Italy
Year: 2008
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
Awards: Annecy Cinema Italy,Monte Carlo Comedy Film Festival
Nominations: italian silver ribbon