Customer Reviews

Delicatessen

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You probably know him best for "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement," but Jean-Pierre Jeunet did an entirely different kind of comedy in "Delicatessen," a wicked black comedy that deals with... um, cannibalism. It's a twisted, dark story populated by the oddest characters that the writer could possibly have imagined -- and man, is it funny.

It's the postapocalyptic future, where food is so scarce that grain is used as money, and meat is completely gone. The setting is an apartment building run by a local butcher (Jean-Claude Dreyfus), who feeds his tenants in an unusual way: he hires assistants, then turns them into tomorrow's din-din. His newest assistant is the gentle vegetarian ex-clown Louison (Dominic Pinon).

But the butcher's plans get thrown for a loop when his cello-playing daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) falls for Stanley and (unsurprisingly) wants to save her love from a fate worse than entrees. So she contacts the vegetarian resistance, the Troglodytes, and tricks them into invading her father's house, on the night when he plans to slaughter Louison.

Okay, let's get this straight: cannibalism is not funny. But comedies about cannibalism CAN be very funny, if done well. And "Delicatessen" manages to be a funny comedy in the tradition of Terry Gilliam, with the warped direction, surreal direction and strange settings. What was later precious in "Amelie" is weirdly ominous here... not that that's a bad thing.

It's also a challenge to create such a dark, bleak setting and somehow inject offbeat comedy into it. For example, one sex scene is juxtaposed against various activities (carpet beating, cello playing) -- all in the same rhythm. It's a moment of pure comic skill. But at the same time, Jeunet slips a bittersweet love story into the middle of the strangeness, relying on Pinon and Dougnac's strong chemistry.

The oddities of the characters are what take this dark comedy to the next level: a tough postman; a pair of brothers who make "moo" boxes, and an aristocratic old lady who goes to great -- and unsuccessful -- lengths to kill herself, Rube Goldberg-style. Julie and the innocent Louison are a bright spot, but the Troglodytes are a bit over-the-top. Really, must they be THAT dumb?

"Delicatessen" is an acquired taste. Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, here's the real end of the review: Jean-Pierre Jeunet's dark comedy is a bit hard to swallow at first, but the wickedly funny characters and offbeat script will win you over.

This is it! As delirious as Amelie made me, as visually stunning as City of Lost Children was, this was the first Jean-Pierre Jeunet (and Marc Caro!) movie I ever saw and it's still my favorite. Darker in tone than any of his other films it's still packed with hilarious moments and every scene is impeccably and sumptuously shot with colors so luminous you're TV will thank you personally for buying this movie.
The central joke in the film, that others seem to miss, is that the characters aren't driven by hunger. Yes, it's set in some undisclosed time of bleak social collapse where meat is very, very scarce. Yes, an enterprising butcher uses certain tenants to do little jobs around the apartment building he owns before chopping them up and selling them to his other tenants (who are all in on it by the way). But the tenants buy the meat with dried grain and corn and beans. Not just a handful of grain, but quite a bit. More grain than meat. Think about that for a second. They're not starving. They could easily use that grain to make a myriad of meals, but instead they use it to buy meat. Not because they need it, but because they want it. Then, out of the swirling ever present fog, stumbles an unassuming, down on his luck ex-clown looking for work and everything goes to hell. Well, mostly everything.
I can't recommend this movie enough. If you're tired of the bland Hollywood fare at your local Cineplex and want something with a little more... flavor... check this out. You won't be disappointed. And don't worry, it may seem like I've given away quite a bit of the movie in this review, but I haven't. You learn everything I've mentioned in the first five minutes or so of the film. The rest of the movie just sort of careens wildly out of control from there.
Oh, this is just a review of the film by the way; I haven't seen the region 1 DVD of the film yet (because it wont be out until May) so I don't know what it's like, but if it's as good as the region 2 DVD, it'll be well worth the cash.

Delicatessen marked the impressive feature film debut of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, two mad geniuses from France who would sadly make only one other film together (the Terry Gilliam-esque City of Lost Children) before going their separate ways. Delicatessen displayed an inventiveness in their sometimes surreal imagery but also with quirky, endearing characters they so expertly crafted. Jeunet and Caro presented a rich, atmospheric world that was the stuff of dreams... or nightmares depending on who you talk to.

Director of photography Darius Khondji shoots the entire film through a sepia tone filter, enshrouding the outside world in a thick fog that creates an ominous mood and gives Delicatessen the look of an old photograph (a look that Jeunet would adopt again with A Very Long Engagement). This is in turn enhanced by the industrial soundscape as if we've wandered into the desolate neighbourhood in Eraserhead. Jeunet's film has some of the most exquisite production design this side of a Gilliam film. The attention to detail is incredible and certainly invites repeated screenings in order to catch all of little things buried in the background of scenes.

Fans of Jeunet's films have had to wait for what seems like forever for Delicatessen to be released on Region 1 DVD and finally the wait is over. For people who only know his work through Amelie, this is a chance to see where that movie came from. Delicatessen was the blueprint for all other Jeunet films to follow, featuring an irrepressible protagonist who injects a sense of engaging child-like wonderment into an otherwise cynical world.

There is an audio commentary by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who tells all kinds of anecdotes and explains what inspired certain shots or where certain props came from. This is a very engaging and informative track that is definitely worth a listen.

"Fine Cooked Meats: A Nod to Delicatessen" features a lot of on the set footage of scenes from the film being shot. It shows how much work went into the film but doesn't provide any insight or context, which, I suppose, is the purpose of the commentary.

"The Archives of Jean-Pierre Jeunet" features a collection of behind-the-scenes footage, including Pinon auditioning, rehearsal footage of scenes not in the movie, and Jeunet scouting locations for certain scenes that are juxtaposed with what they look like in the finished film.

Finally, there is the theatrical and teaser trailers for the film.

Delicatessen is the feel good post-apocalyptic Parisian cannibalism dark comedy of the 90's, possibly of all time. Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who later created the masterful City Of Lost Children) Delicatessen defies traditional analysis, one simply enters this thoroughly strange, visually dazzling world and experiences layer upon layer of delight. (That Jeunet also directed the disarmingly charming Amelie does not inform Delicatessen, one could hardly find two more dissimilar movies.)

From the brilliantly inventive titles to the final credits, Delicatessen is an art director's movie determined to produce a feast for the eyes; logic, plot, even character are secondary. Caro and Jeunet were clearly influenced by co-producer Terry Gilliam, that sense of relentless visual wizardry present in his masterpiece, Brazil, is very much in evidence. Gilliam, in addition to being one of our greatest, and most fearlessly original, directors is best remembered as the Monty Python that did the sick cartoons.

As in Brazil, sense of time is intentionally misdirected. Ostensibly we are in a somewhat futuristic, post-cataclysmic setting, but architecture, furnishings, and wardrobe suggest pre-WWII. The plot, little more than a vehicle for the legion of idiosyncratic comedic characters, is beyond ludicrous. A demonic butcher, played by Jean-Claude Dreyfus, runs a rooming house and occasionally slaughters a tenant to provide food for the ones that remain. They pay him in grain. In the sewers below, a colony of mole people avoid contact with the above ground crowd, subsist as they can, and refuse to consume meat.

Into this madhouse wanders an innocent ex-clown, played with real comic genius by Dominique Pinon. (Pinon and Dreyfus also excel in City Of Lost Children). The clown, Louison, has had a career setback; ravenous circus go-ers ate his chimpanzee, Dr. Livingstone. He falls in love with the butcher's gentle, and nearly blind, daughter who tries to protect him from the horrid fate her father has planned. Meanwhile, one tenant floods his apartment so he can raise frogs and snails for food, a clinically depressed but perfectly coiffed aristocrat thinks she hears voices and devises intricate, unsuccessful, means of committing suicide, while a blue collar family wrestles with the ethical consequences of letting granny be converted into pate.

Over the top - yes - but the joke never gets stale. There are far too many brilliant comic vignettes to mention, the acting is superb, not one sour note. From musical saws to bedspring symphonies, this movie has it all. Definitely worth owning. This is bad taste that tastes good.

I would have a difficult time saying what I like best about this film. The photography is superb, the settings are incredible, and the performance by Dominique Pinon is outstanding. Delicatessen is an outstanding black French comedy, with characters and settings that look straight out of a dark comic book --think of a French Tim Burton. The story itself is about the urban dwellers of an apartment building set atop a strangely successful butcher's shop in postwar Europe. I first saw this film at a petite showing in an art cinema club. I have not been able to find it very easily afterwards.. it deserves a DVD edition ASAP!

Amélie was very good although I couldn't help but think of Chungking Express while watching it. City of Lost Children scored big points visually but was a tad thin in the story/plot department. Alien 4 was, well, it's Alien 4.

This is Caro and Jeunet's masterpiece. The originality and imagination needed to have such a BIG movie take place in a single building is mindblowing. The twisted visuals are like a mix between Terry Gilliam and Québec filmmaker Jean-Claude Lauzon. The characters and their surroundings are weird and dark yet colourful and cartoon-like at the same time. I must admit when I saw the "Troglo" soldiers I immediately though of "Brazil".

Long story short I can't imagine anyone not liking this film. It's not as "accessible" as Amélie but that edge makes the film so much better.

I remember the first time I saw this movie, at a theatrical release in a small cinema in Perth, Australia. I went it with no idea what it was about and absolutely loved it. I think it is one of more perfect movies made. It is a wonderful combination of humour, surrealism weird plot lines and fantastic scenes. I have seen of all Jean-Pierre Jeunnet's movies ever since.

I absolutely recomond this movie and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. I have been waiting for this movie to finally come out on DVD, it has been a long long time.

Delicatessen is a disturbing and odd little movie, though probably one of the best I've ever seen. The movie is actually quite witty at times, which I suppose you wouldn't expect from a movie with a cannibalistic theme. The best part, I'd have to say, is the breathtaking cinematography.

A word to the wise, though: Certain parts are a bit cringeworthy... so subtly sadistic it made me wonder if I saw it correctly.

Definetly worth the time and the money to see!

Beautiful cinematography, excellent set design, and wildly vivid characters are just a few of the well planned and beautifully executed details in this comically bizarre film. One of my Top 5 movies of all time. Highly recommended

Don't let that put you off. The visual mastery of this film more than makes up for the sub-titles. A circus clown, a mad butcher his mistress and his alluring daughter, a swamp man, an authoritarian postal worker, a hapless grandmother, a suicidal wife and her husband, along with a pair of toy "moo" makers make up the characters for this film. There is also plenty of comedy in the form of slapstick and strange situations. The spoken dialog hardly matters at all with this visual smorgasbord going on.