Delicatessen

Plot synopsis:
In a dilapidated apartment building in post-apocalyptic France, food is in short supply and grain is used as currency. On the ground floor is a butcher's shop, run by the landlord, Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus), who posts job opportunities in the Hard Times paper as means to lure victims to the building, whom he murders and butchers as a cheap source of meat to sell to his tenants.
Following the "departure" of the last worker, unemployed circus clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) applies for the vacant position. During his routine maintenance, he befriends Clapet's daughter, Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), a relationship which slowly blossoms into romance. Louison proves to be a superb worker with a spectacular trick knife and the butcher is reluctant to off him too quickly. During this time several of the tenants fall under Louison's boyish charms, worrying others who are more anxious for their own safety should they require meat. Aware of her father's motives, Julie descends into the sewers to make contact with the feared Troglodistes, a vegetarian sub-group of French rebels, whom she persuades to help rescue Louison.
During the apparent butchering of an old woman, the Troglodistes attack but are repelled, and Clapet, with the unsympathetic tenants, storms Louison's room in an attempt to murder him. Louison and Julie resist by flooding themselves, floor to ceiling, in an upper floor bathroom until Clapet opens the door releasing the flood and washing the attackers away. Clapet returns with Louison's knife and inadvertently kills himself. Louison and Julie play music together on the roof of the now peaceful apartment building.

Tags: comedy, dark, murder, cult, alternate reality, atmospheric, psychedelic, absurd, satire, claustrophobic, entertaining

Review:
Delicatessen is hard to pin down under a specific genre label; it's a surreal black comedy, a human drama, a post-apocalyptic horror movie, a twisted thriller, a futuristic fantasy; and all in all; one of the strangest and most original films I've ever seen.
Julie knows what goes on at the delicatessen and can't allow her new found love to meet the same fate as the others, and therefore does the only thing she can do; hire a band of vegetarian freedom fighters to save her love from becoming dinner for the butcher and his customers.Delicatessen is directed by the team of Marc Caro (whom, I'm afraid, I am unfamiliar with) and the more well known Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director of a few lesser known modern classics, but best known for the enthusiastic 'Amelie'.
This is nice, as during the scenes between the clown (Pinon) and Julie (Dougnac), the film allows itself to indulge in humour that isn't dark like the rest of the film, and you get the impression that it's enjoying itself a little more.
The camera work is brilliant, the sets are simply amazing (with the final bathroom scene at the pinnacle), the editing and pace is breathtaking.This could have been a very dark movie (and I guess a few Hollywood directors would have tried to turn it into a splatter movie and fail miserably), but the humor is just light, off-beat and hilarious enough to make it into a consistent and bearable whole.
Melding the perfect mixture of the visual grace of a silent film with a modern soundscape and bearing a twenty-first century post-apocalyptic sardonic sense of humor, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's "Delicatessen" becomes one of the finest contemporary films.This pitch black comedy delves into cannibalism and oddball romance in the same breath with equal gusto and therefore feels horrific, humorous, and haunting all at once.
In the late 70s, french director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and designer Marc Caro met and found they shared a lot of interests in the visual arts, their friendship soon became an artistic team that would spent the whole 80s making short films where the duo was able to explore and master the cinema language, perfecting their storytelling abilities and visual design skills, preparing themselves to make a career in film-making.
Their efforts were crowned in 1991, when they were finally able to take their craft to a full feature length film, in the project that would become their breakthrough in the film industry and the proper beginning of their careers as filmmakers: the post-apocalyptic comedy "Delicatessen".The world of "Delicatessen" is a dark bleak France where there is apparently no law and food is incredibly sparse (and is now used as currency).
In this post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment building in the middle of nowhere have found a solution to the hunger thanks to their landlord, the butcher Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus), who from time to time kills the building's handyman to feed the bizarre group of tenants.
One day, former clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) arrives to the building and gets the handyman position, but unfortunately for Clapet and the other tenants, the butcher's daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) has fallen in love with Louison, and will do whatever is necessary to stop the madness of the delicatessen.Written by Gilles Adrien (who also wrote many of the previous Jeunet & Caro shorts) as well as Jeunet & Caro themselves, "Delicatessen" is a wonderfully imaginative tale of sweet romance and hilarious black comedy that gives an unexpected light-hearted twist to a plot that most writers would treat as a serious subject matter.
And surprisingly it works, as while the story is anything but complex, the assortment of strange (yet very human) characters that populate the world of "Delicatessen" truly become the movie's soul.
And not only the main characters, as every single one of them (no matter how small the role is) is highly detailed and serves a specific function as if the whole building was one of the odd machines that still work in this post-apocalyptic portrait of France.Visually, the film is simply sublime.
Still, the movie is more than a visual fest, as Jeunet (in charge of guiding the actors) shows a complete domain over his cast & crew keeping the many elements of the film working nicely in the right place.As written above, the characters are the film's soul, and the ensemble of actors playing them really made a terrific job in the film.
Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Clapet the Butcher is simply delightful as the story's "villian", and basically every member of the cast delivers an unforgettable performance no matter how long or short is their screen time (Silvie Laguna for example, is really wonderful)."Delicatessen" is a solid debut by this two skillful french artists, and it already shows why the two quickly became an important team in the French fantasy cinema.
Their very own brand of surrealist fantasy flows freely through the film making a unique visual fest (although it definitely goes a bit over-the-top at times), and while it doesn't reach the artistic level of their follow-up (the 1995 classic "La Cité Des Enfants Perdus"), it's still a nicely done movie that most importantly, never gets boring or tiresome.
Unlike their later films, "Delicatessen" may not be for everyone, as it's mix of black comedy and surreal fantasy may seem at times too close to absurd to be enjoyable.
However, those with a taste for the bizarre will find a great movie in this French comedy.While "Delicatessen" still shows the excess of the young and raw talent of Jeunet & Caro, it's not hard to see why they became known worldwide after this initial success, as this movie shows the enormous potential of their skills as filmmakers.
It's set in a crumbling apartment building in 21st century, post-apocalyptic Paris where food is at a minimum, grains are used as money and the butcher downstairs runs a black-market deli providing clientel with what seems to be the only meat product available, and it ain't chicken.Dominique Pinon is an ex-circus clown who answers a personal ad doing odd jobs there and encounters assorted weirdos while being targeted as the main course.
There's a noncomformist who eats snails and frogs, a band of grimy cave-dwelling looters, an unhinged woman whose botched suicide attempts are comic highlights and an amazing musical sequence featuring a cello, creaky bed springs, machinery, drills and other noises combining to create a symphony of sounds.The oppressive atmosphere and murky brown color schemes could have easily turned this into a dreary disaster, but the directors keep it offbeat, surprising and clever throughout, and don't miss their chance to throw in some inventive black comedy..
The directors Jeunet & Caro show their true potential in this movie that will keep you glued with its naive-like comedy style, and its unique set of characters, which could generate a separate movie about each and every one of them.
No other movie I've seen so far could top this one for its combination of wittiness, dark humor, love for detail and collection of regular people holding a mirror up to each and everyone of us, showing us how strange we really are.Indeed this movie will not be constrained by a classification as romance, comedy or science fiction or horror.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro crafted a near-perfect film in Delicatessen, an almost indescribably unique French comedy concerning cannibalism, troglodytes, a circus clown, myopia, suicide, and sex -- and it's all set following some kind of apocalyptic catastrophe.
"Delicatessen" is everything films should be: beautiful, meticulously crafted, moving, spectacular and fun.However, perhaps the most telling recommendation for this film is not all the praise I and others like me will happily lavish on this deliciously black yet life-affirming comedy, but rather the comments of its detractors, who complain that it is too "illogical", too strange or just too dark."Delicatessen" -- thank God!
Well our traveling man ends up going across the wrong path attempting to hook up with the Butcher's daughter...and so the life of danger begins.Well this movie is much like "The city of lost children" in that the background is so interesting that it tends to take from most of the film...yet the characters also hold that interest.
(They even took time for things like designing and filming one of the cleverest opening credit sequences I've seen.) Jeunet's films are a feast of color and sound, where almost every character is memorable in his/her own way.The plot is simple, but why complain?
However, merely being of French origin does not make a great film and this, most certainly, is not the cinematic masterpiece some would like to believe it is.First off, let's get one thing out of the way; the cinematography is phenomenal, defining what was a new and grotesque atmosphere that is truly unsettling and has since been copied numerous times by other directors.
It was not unlike watching a puppet show, which may have been intentional, but that doesn't make it good.Because the movie simply isn't funny or particularly horrifying and the performances hollow and uninspired (with the exception of Jean-Claude Dreyfus, who manages to almost hold the movie together) the film as an allegory for French societal ills (moral degradation, self consuming, etc.) is obvious and, in the worst traditions of French cinema, obnoxiously self absorbed.
The butcher's daughter, Marie-Laure Dougnac, was equally good, as the one who falls in love with Louison, and tries to save him from her father (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) the butcher and the rest in the apartment.There is too much going on in this film to comment on all of it - the "tea" ceremony, the mattress test, the failed suicide attempts - suffice it to say that the entire 99 minutes is packed with laughs and macabre comedy.The script and direction (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who also directed Amelie and Alien: Resurrection) were superlative.
A dark comedy by Jean-Pierre Jeunet created upon a post-apocalyptic time (at times when food grains are used as currencies).
To mention some : 1) bed-springs sound for a symphony 2) soporific tea scene 4) Cow noise toys and a house full of mad people The plot gets too predictable and even though the story is original it is still hollow/weak.The bottom line : it is a food/recipe which I'd like to taste again and again (would watch the movie again) but may not be the same for all..
"Delicatessen" marks Jean-Pierre Jeunet's and Marc Caro's first film and it hit like a bomb.
Everything is different, mysterious, weird in this surreal setting of a post-apocalyptic apartment building where a butcher hunts for human meat, where grain replaces money, underground living troglodytes plan a revolution and a retired clown enjoys playing the saw."Delicatessen", while very original, still quotes other movies in a lot of places, and is quoted regularly since its release, clearly showing its impact as a true postmodern phenomenon.
Louison begins to fall in love with the landlord's daughter, Julie, and this stirs up a lot of trouble in this run down little apartment which is full of bizarre characters and is also smack dab in the middle of a post apocalyptic hellscape.
Everything from the odd scenery that all seems out of place, to the collection of strangely twisted characters that inhabit the apartment, it all fits right in with this world that makes absolutely no sense.Delicatessen is as funny as it is creepy and as entertaining as it is fascinating.
May be like Terry Gilliam who is famous for Twelve Monkeys, Brazil etc The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world based on a butcher (Clapet) who owns an apartment, a new helper(Louison), a circus performer and its tenants, each one of them is hilariously weird.
The title part of the movie is so creative and intriguing.Delicatessen is not a normal film but a dark comedy, weirdly filmed and is very funny at times.
If you loved Amelie as much as I did then I think you will enjoy this film.A not-so-feel-good dark, romantic comedy who's story-line is like nothing I've ever seen before.
However disaster strikes when Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), The butchers (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) daughter falls in love with the new tenant, Louison (Dominique Pinon) aka, dinner..
Delicatessen may just be a film that you go strictly for the humorous experience rather than trying to gain some deep philosophical meaning from."The End is Nigh": In this post-Apocalyptic fantasy world, the world has been ravaged and food is now in short supply.
I had been looking forward to watching this film since they put a more popular Jeunet's masterpiece on TV, Amélie, and my uncle said it reminded him a lot of a film he had seen a few years ago, called Delicatessen.One thing that attracted my attention was the fact that, in spite of being set in a hypothetical future, the building outside and inside looks like they were in the 50s, with the old TVs and furniture and wallpaper.
Without them I can say it'd seem that the world that Jeunet has created for this film is just inhabited by mere animals.Finally I'd like to point out a movie that came to my mind as I was watching this one, Alex de la Iglesia's 'La Comunidad', it's Spanish and it was made a few years after Delicatessen so I may think the director picked some ideas from this Jeunet's movie.
When I saw this film the first time (A harrowing experience to even find it) I had already seen Jeunet and Caro's other masterpiece, City of Lost Children.
Surreal post-apocalyptic black comedy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.
Inventive in design, insane in plotting it's a latter day French minor classic Co-directors and co-screenwriters Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro made a brilliant feature film debut with this bizarre and visually stunning comedy about cannibalism.
This French comedy, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, certainly will not suit everyone's taste, but those people who like their comedy black - very black - will find this film frequently hilarious.
In a futuristic post-apocalyptic society, food is rare and the butcher Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) is the landlord of a building, where he rents the apartments and his single daughter Julie Clapet (Marie-Laure Daugnac) lives in one of them.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the man behind AMELIE but ten years before that he made the equally quirky, if not more so, DELICATESSEN, a film about the lives and loves of the bizarre characters living inside a run-down apartment building.
But watching this movie, it quickly became clear that this was not in my range of preference.Set in an apocalyptic time, "Delicatessen" is filmed and constantly lit by a dark orange-like hue, which was a bit odd, but worked out well enough, I suppose.Now, what "Delicatessen" had working in its favor was the performances put on by the cast, and they made it bearable to sit through the train wreck of a storyline."Delicatessen" is somewhat of an acquired taste, which wasn't for me.
DelicatessenIn a post-apocalyptic future the world's Cheez Whiz supply would have to be used to re-caulk all the buildings.Thankfully the tenants in this sci-fi comedy don't have to lick cracks for sustenance.On the ground floor of a dilapidated apartment is a butcher (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) who always has fresh meat despite there being a food shortage.Answering an ad in the newspaper, Louison (Dominique Pinon) lands the job of assistant to the butcher.Eventually Louison's charms win over the butcher's daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac).
The movie's best feature would be its various side stories which look into the lives of the various different tenants of the butcher's building.
Delicatessen is a strange little treat from the French director Jean- Pierre Jeunet, the director of other great modern French films like Amélie.
For it is less interested in the post apocalyptic world, but instead focuses on the characters and the various tenants who live in the building and their dark humour .
At times he's slightly overplayed, but this assists in making sure he stands out as the most insane, amongst an already insane cast of characters.The style the film is shot is also very interesting as for the most part the entire story is confined to the apartment building.
Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.Of course, I know the director of this film from his work ten years later -- "Amelie".
The directors, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, control the film with a firm tone that carries the movie through its running time.The mise-en-scene the director captures with particular shots make Delicatessen memorable, starting with the opening shots consisting of circular objects of all sizes and shapes.
I think I like this film even more than that other 90's fantasy/fairy-tale masterpiece from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet; the dazzling "City of Lost Children"..
With some brilliant camera work and a highly imaginative script Delicatessen is in many ways symptomatic of the succeeding films of Jean Pierre Jeunet who In authors humble opinion is among the most creative artists of his generation.
A decade before critics were losing their voices in praise of Amelie, French director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, directed the dark and morbid comedy, Delicatessen.
This is one of the most original movies ever made, it's able to perfectly mix the comedy, fantasy and the romance that only directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro can bring to you with a stylish dark background.The story is about the landlord of an apartment building(Dreyfus) who sells cannibalistic meals to his tenants for corn , and the unlucky Louison(Pinon) who's looking for a place to stay ends up at the apartment.The camera work is brilliant, the sets are simply amazing and the writing is astounding.I would recommend delicatessen to every movie fan.9/10.
The story takes place in an apartment building with a Delicatessen at the bottom run by the dastardly Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) who chops up people as food for the bizarre tenants.