Delicatessen (1992)

Not so much

I'm a fan of this director's later work but this one just didn't do anything for me.

It's not common that I find something that's too weird for me, but this kinda was..

I just didn't get it.

It was well shot and acted, but I felt the story fell flat.

June 25, 2008

Delicatessen - A Dark But Delightful Comedy

This movie is a dark comedy set in a post-apocalyptic France when meat is scarce, but humans are not. The only viable choice - to eat other humans. But what happens when the man who was slated for dinner tonight turns out to be an indispensable worker and captures the heart of the butcher's daughter? April 21, 2008

Delicatessen - French film

Glad to find the movie. Quick shipping. All was just fine. Thanks! April 2, 2008

"No-one is entirely evil. It's the circumstances. Or we don't know what we're doing."

Set in a rotting wasteland where food and barter replace money, Dominque Pinon's unemployed clown (a gentle-natured cross between Popeye and Klaus Kinski) takes a job as handyman-cum-dinner in a rundown apartment owned by a butcher who hacks up the hired help to feed his other, not too morally particular residents. Complications ensue when he falls in love with the butcher's daughter and she enlists the aid of an underground group of vegetarian terrorists to help her save him. The butcher himself is beginning to feel remorse ("No-one is entirely evil. It's the circumstances, or we don't know what we're doing") but that doesn't stop him trying to make mincemeat out of his prospective son-in-law. There's more, but you probably won't believe me.

What starts out as just your average cannibalism comedy gradually wins you over, drawing you into the damaged lives of the block's credibly eccentric inhabitants, and even comes up with an entirely new way to get out of a trapped bathroom, but not one I'd recommend trying at home (unless you're being pursued by a cannibalistic butcher, of course). Nice little touches abound, such as the butcher's clumsy short-sighted daughter buying two of everything in case she breaks them or the granny who has tin cans tied to her so that her family can find her if she gets lost (no prizes for guessing what happens to her). You may not think you'll like it, but you probably will in spite of yourself...

The muted sepia tones are well captured, and there's an excellent extras package as well, including a genuinely informative audio commentary by Jean-Pierre Jeunet on a disc well worth buying - if it's to your taste.
February 9, 2008

"Delicatessen" movie review

"Delicatessen" is a French cult classic. It's a bit of a morbid story with cute little twists. The characters are neat (interesting developments). There is a romance or two. I saw the movie when it first came out and it made an impression on me then and it still does today. It's cute and creepy at the same time. Jean-Claude Dreyfus as the butcher was superb. Try it out! French language with English subtitles makes it easier to understand. December 29, 2007

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