Delicatessen DVD Review

If there are two things in the American film world that French people are known for loving, it is Jerry Lewis and The Coen Brothers, so it is no surprise to find elements of both in Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s Delicatessen. This energetic dark comedy is rumored to have been an adjustment on Lewis’s The Delicate Delinquent (1957) while containing the same morbid humor loved in the Coen’s films. Jeunet even claims that the idea of the film was inspired from a stay in an American hotel, where the food tasted so bad that it could have been human flesh. Released in 1991, Delicatessen was a smash hit at festivals and with critics, fitting in the new class of filmmakers like The Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino, who borrowed inspiration and blend homage with plot seamlessly.

Jeunet and Caro were an anomaly for a while, as two filmmakers working together successfully without being blood-related. After Delicatessen they saw success again with The City of Lost Children, and after splitting Jeunet went on to make Amélie, which shares a similar visual style and cast as Delicatessen. Delicatessen is certainly not so sweet, however. This wicked gem is a post-apocalyptic vision of a future where meat is hard to find. A butcher shop located on the first floor of an apartment building has a butcher, Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus), who has found the solution to the problem for the people existing in the strange world of the apartment building, nearly completely cut off from civilization. The building has just received a new tenant, Louison (Dominque Pinon), who arrives with hopes of becoming the building’s handyman for room-and-board. Things being what they are in the decrepit society, Louison thinks he has found himself a respectable job, until finds out what his neighbors really want from him.

While the neighbors are anxiously awaiting the moment the butcher uses Louison to provide them with meat, he furiously works to improve the building, charming the tenants as he does. Louison takes a special interest in the butcher’s daughter, Julie Clapet (Marie-Laure Dougnac), who is also pursued by the mailman. Julie sees the sweetness in Louison’s bumbling ways and admires the useless talents he has as a former circus performer. Unfortunately there is no work for acrobatic entertainment in the ravished future, but his abilities prove a useful tool once he has discovered the plot against him.

Delicatessen is a rare treat of a film, surprising and unexpected at every turn. With the ability to be wicked and dark, other characters represent innocence and love, making and oddly romantic dark comedy about murder and cannibalism. Remarkable production design and effective editing are only among a few of the remarkable reasons that this is film is layered in successful presentation that allows repeat viewings. The latest Special Edition includes an audio commentary with Jean-Pierre Jeunet as well as his archives which feature footage from rehearsals and behind-the-scenes. There are photo galleries, a trailer gallery and a making-of featurette, as well.