In a post-apocalyptic world where meat has become something to barter with (think fuel from the Mad Max films), cannibalism seems to no longer be frowned upon. An ex-clown is well on his way to finding this out the hard way when he takes a job at an apartment building which houses a butcher shop called the “Delicatessen.”
Delicatessen is a stark, imaginative, and sometimes brilliant surrealist black comedy from co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. The pair made several shorts together before tackling this project in 1991, and then made the equally brilliant ‘The City of Lost Children’ in 1995 - before Jean-Pierre Jeunet left for Hollywood by himself to make ‘Alien: Resurrection.’ That film was an infamous disaster and Jeunet ran back to France to make “Amelie,” - the enormously well-received film now ranked #29 on imdb.com’s top 250 films list. Of Jeunet’s films, I rank Amelie a solid third behind Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children.
Delicatessen is an amazingly confident feature film debut. It is a sci-fi black comedy with touches of horror. One can also easily see the strange, quirky elements that make up some of Terry Gilliam’s work like Time Bandits and Brazil along with some similarities to Luc Besson’s Subway. Quirky, eccentric characters abound. Filmed in muted, earthy tones to reflect the despair these post-apocalyptic characters find themselves in, the look of this film is something truly unique.
Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon plays Louison, in an imminently affable performance which is extremely important to this role. We first see the character pushing a taxi in front of a apartment building with a butcher shop on the first floor. The cab driver unfortunately will not accept lentils for payment, so Louison has to hand over his shoes - which forces the ex-clown, rather embarrassingly, to wear his clown shoes for the rest of the film.
In the introduction to the film, we meet the butcher Clapet (in a gleefully over-the-top performance by Jean-Claude Dreyfus who will later show up in City of Lost Children) who sharpens his assortment of knives with relish. Louison approaches Clapet about a job posted in the paper that sports free room and board. Clapet (eyeing our small friend like a starved cartoon character who sees a big piece of meat) at first turns Louison away, assumingly because he is too small. Not being particularly savvy, Louison persists.
Butcher Clapet has set up a tenant trap so to speak. Working with the existing tenants of the building, Clapet puts out a fake ad for people to respond to. Once moved in…slice and dice. A wrench is thrown into Clapet’s plan with Louison, however, when his daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), who knows all too well her father’s plan, falls in love with Louison.
Jeunet and Caro have crafted a truly bizarre world with Delicatessen, which results in one of my few drawbacks about the film. Considering the film rarely wavers from the building and its occupants, it’s hard to know how the world outside the apartment building that houses the “Delicatessen” operates. I was curious to know if such extreme actions were being taken outside of this building, and what was going on world-wide. A menial drawback, though, and it’s only testament to the world they created that I would have liked to known more.
Acting is great across the board. As I mentioned earlier, Dominique Pinon is extremely likeable as our hero, and we are generally concerned that he makes it out alive - especially as his romance with Julie flourishes. Marie-Laure Dougnac plays Julie as sweet, shy and mousy, with just the right eccentric touches. And Jean-Claude Dreyfus really ran with his role, taking every opportunity to overact (in a good way, perfect for this particular character). The film is filled with wonderfully off-beat characters.
The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. It’s a gorgeous transfer that really highlights the films unique look. The film is provided with the original French language track with a solid 2.0 mix and English and French subtitles. Miramax did a good job porting over all the extras from the fine R2 release from a couple years ago, but sadly added nothing new so if you have that disc…there’s no real reason to pick this one up.
But for the majority of us, these special features will come as something new. All special features are in French with English subtitles. First up is the feature-length commentary by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who goes it alone without Marc Caro (who Jeunet tells us is not a fan of commentaries). An intriguing track, Jeunet discusses the expected elements, themes, locations, acting, etc. and should be definite listen for fans.
‘Delicatessen’ is a film I can recommend to anyone who likes their comedy weird and dark, or their sci-fi and horror strange and light. It’s one of the few films to take on almost all genres and succeed. The film is a little sci-fi, horror, romance and a lot of comedy - all done well. If you are a fan of Gilliam or, certainly Jeunet’s other work, don’t think twice about giving ‘Delicatessen’ a go – just don’t bring lentils.
Delicatessen is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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