Review of Delicatessen

Introduction

Delicatessen is the critically acclaimed film from the weird and wonderful minds of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who also brought us the decidedly quirky Amelie) and Marc Caro.

Set in a post-apocalyptic dustbowl France, the action centres on the lives of the inhabitants of one block of flats. When an ex-clown applies for the job of handyman, he immediately fits in well, entertaining his neighbours with circus tricks. However, he fails to recognise the danger present – the butcher who employs him runs a black market of human flesh, providing his friends with a regular source of meat – and the handyman is always the victim.

Throw in an eccentric set of characters – the (literally) underground vegetarians, the butcher’s clumsy daughter, a hapless woman who just cannot commit suicide correctly – and we have the ingredients of a truly original piece of French cinema.

Video

The cinematography by Darius Khondji (Se7en, The Beach, Panic Room) is quite simply stunning, coordinating perfectly with Caro (who was responsible for the technical side of the partnership) to create a wonderfully dark and almost expressionist world.

The anamorphic widescreen picture is a good transfer, although falling short of very good. Although there is some visible print damage and grain in some scenes, overall the picture maintains a high level of detail whilst reproducing skin tones accurately and colours fully.

Audio

The French stereo track included is more than adequate – producing clear dialogue free from hiss and even some surround effects. Although I’m sure many fans would have preferred to see a 5.1 mix on this disc, the audio is not at all bad.

Features

A generous selection of extras is included here. When you first pop in the disc you are presented with a beautiful themed menu, animated and accompanied by some of the film’s score – top marks awarded here.

The commentary by Jeunet (as he states early on, Caro doesn’t like commentaries) is in French, but fortunately an English translation is available – the subtitles are activated when you select this extra. Jeunet goes into depth about the making of Delicatessen, and the ideas that inspired it. “The Archives of Jean Pierre Jeunet” consists of 9mins of screen-test and rehearsal footage. However, this comes across as a kind of rough version of what could have been an excellent featurette. “Fine Slices from Diane Bertrand” is the B-roll of behind-the-scenes footage, and clocks in at 14mins long – a very interesting look at how the two directors work with their crew and technical equipment. Both of these extras are in French, with English subs.

Conclusion

From what I can gather from by (very!) basic use of French, a few of the French 2-disc release’s extras are missing, and the packaging here is nowhere near as nice as the Jeunet/Caro tin boxset available in France. However, since these releases irritatingly do not include English subtitles, this release is the next best option – and is a very good release at that. The picture and audio are very good, and there is a fine selection of extras available.

As for the main feature, Jeunet and Caro’s first major film was – and still is – a revelation. The wonderfully dark and often farcical comedy of the storyline is perfectly complimented by the warped visuals. Delicatessen definitely has that indefinable magic about it – get your hands on a copy as soon as you can!