Delicatessen (1991)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Emily A

  
  This is exactly like Brazil. That is to say, the movies look really really similar, in thier cluttered sets, quirky characters and post-apocalyptic yet casual world. I liked it as much as I liked Brazil. It was fun, kinda cool, but not really my cup of tea. It kind of bothered me the… More
  This is exactly like Brazil. That is to say, the movies look really really similar, in thier cluttered sets, quirky characters and post-apocalyptic yet casual world. I liked it as much as I liked Brazil. It was fun, kinda cool, but not really my cup of tea. It kind of bothered me the way it couldn't quite pick what genre it was supposed to be. I think it wanted to be a comedy.

• EightThirty .

  
  05/01/2011 (DVD) <b>Quite good!</b> An unusual setting with unusual characters which made this an unusually good movie. It is a flick with deception as it seemed to be a friendly comedy, but it's really smothered with darkness! Strangely, there's romance… More
  05/01/2011 (DVD) <b>Quite good!</b> An unusual setting with unusual characters which made this an unusually good movie. It is a flick with deception as it seemed to be a friendly comedy, but it's really smothered with darkness! Strangely, there's romance and it's the cutest kind that lightens up the rather darkly theme, very enjoyable to sit through. It's funny which was weird for me cause its just so heavy with evilness, I was so concerned and yet I couldn't stop laughing. <b>Its so playful and yet so evil,</b> what a stir. <i>Definitely a strange one for me but a very manageable sitting.</i> I must say that I liked this a little more than "The City of Lost Children" but anyway it's probably not one for everybody, but it was a good watch for me. I do hope to find more like this, I'm enjoying the seriously weird and strange films that exist, sweet.

• Mike S

  
  France in a not-too-distant, post-apocalyptic future. A grim and filthy existence, where the shortage of food have turned some into desperate acts of cannibalism. Not exactly the sort of things we associate this otherwise-beautiful country with. In the visual sense, this film is both… More
  France in a not-too-distant, post-apocalyptic future. A grim and filthy existence, where the shortage of food have turned some into desperate acts of cannibalism. Not exactly the sort of things we associate this otherwise-beautiful country with. In the visual sense, this film is both creative and repugnant simultaneously. The brown-and-yellow color filter really invades the eyes, and brings your thoughts to the dirty restrooms found commonly in local bars. I really enjoyed the ingenuity of the camera shots though. As we know from his other work, such as <i>Amelie from Montmartre</i>, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has an indesputable knack for thinking outside the box. However, due to its unappealing settings and nauseating colors, this unfortunately boils down to my least favourite film by him. On the whole it's still good though and certainly worth the time invested.

• Melvin W

  
  "This is a job for the Australian!" This is no where near as good as Jeunets masterpiece Amelie; but it is still a very quirky and entertaining film. Although the movie does have some scenes that are extremely funny; on the whole it isn't that funny of a movie. There is… More
  "This is a job for the Australian!" This is no where near as good as Jeunets masterpiece Amelie; but it is still a very quirky and entertaining film. Although the movie does have some scenes that are extremely funny; on the whole it isn't that funny of a movie. There is a sex scene that is if not the funniest, then one of the funniest parts of the movie. Overall, Delicatessen is definitely worth a watch, especially if you like Jeunets other movies.

• Alice S

  
  This film is kinda the nail in the coffin of my assertion that Jean-Pierre Jeunet had one great idea (<i>Amelie</i>), and everything else is just a convoluted mess. Dominique Pinon and Marie-Laure Dougnac are quite sweet and charming as the handyman who came to dinner and… More
  This film is kinda the nail in the coffin of my assertion that Jean-Pierre Jeunet had one great idea (<i>Amelie</i>), and everything else is just a convoluted mess. Dominique Pinon and Marie-Laure Dougnac are quite sweet and charming as the handyman who came to dinner and the gal who loves him. Their cello and saw-playing are mesmerizing, but that was the only music I enjoyed in the movie. The sound of knives sharpening really grinds my gears, and the sex symphony doesn't have nearly as many rhythms and sounds as this one crazy sequence in "Scrubs." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzmHEU5866I Also, as with <i>Micmacs</i>, there seems to be a hint of dystopian satire, but it gets lost in too many characters and too many quirks.

• Thomas B

  
  Absolutely amazing. Equals parts comedy, tragedy, romance and thriller, this is one of the best foreign language you'll ever watch. Full review later.

• Spencer S

  
  Woah, was this film complicated. You've got wartime cannibalism, attempted suicide, monkeys, clowns, a musical saw. It's the perfect film!

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  Set in a foggy, devastated, livestock-lacking town, DELICATESSEN is a delectable dark comedy by the incredible minds of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. The creative team behind DELICATESSEN make up for a somewhat weak plot with impressive character development and visual perfection.… More
  Set in a foggy, devastated, livestock-lacking town, DELICATESSEN is a delectable dark comedy by the incredible minds of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. The creative team behind DELICATESSEN make up for a somewhat weak plot with impressive character development and visual perfection. Dominique Pinon stands out among the impressive cast, but the real reason to watch this film is because it's a feast for the eyes. Cinematography, lighting, direction, costumes and performances are all stupendous.

• Anthony L

  
  An amazing film! Possibly one of the best films of the last 30 years, and easily in the top 5 best films of the 90's. Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro are a match made in heaven. Dominique Pinon is also one of the most overlooked actors working today. Brilliant.

• Greg S

  
  A butcher runs a boarding house filled with bizarre residents in a near future plagued by shortages, but always seems to have enough meat to barter... Offbeat and often fascinating futuristic black comedy, built around some amazing set pieces (a rhythmic symphony the boarders… More
  A butcher runs a boarding house filled with bizarre residents in a near future plagued by shortages, but always seems to have enough meat to barter... Offbeat and often fascinating futuristic black comedy, built around some amazing set pieces (a rhythmic symphony the boarders collaborate on without knowing it, the Rube Goldberg contraptions a schizophrenic woman invents to try to commit suicide).

• Rubia Carolina .

  
  A surrealistic and visually superb black comedy. Original and "delightful". <br>

• Kylie B

  
  I know it's a good film both in terms of technical style and it's originality, but for me it's a film I'd only ever watch once. I did like the frog and snail man though.

• Aaron N

  
  Louison: This is a job for the Australian! A dark French comedy set in a dilapidated apartment building in a post-apocalyptic time period, featuring a number of quirky characters. The story involves the landlord of the building who is also a butcher. Due to the lack of food, he has… More
  Louison: This is a job for the Australian! A dark French comedy set in a dilapidated apartment building in a post-apocalyptic time period, featuring a number of quirky characters. The story involves the landlord of the building who is also a butcher. Due to the lack of food, he has gone through desperate measures to maintain power over his tenants by murdering people and making them into food for the tenants with currency for trade. The latest victim will be an unemployed clown, played by Dominique Pinon, who comes to work as a handyman, not knowing of course the situation he has put himself in. During this time he meets the various tenants of the apartment. The movie revolves around the various characters in the apartment, some other figures emerging over time, and what is to come of the food situation. The film was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who specializes in making a movies steeped in stylized art direction and production design, which fits with the various idiosyncrasies of the characters. Here the film has a distinctive tone fitting with its story and combined with wide angles and obscure camera movements it all works. The story is a bit thin compared to Jeunet's others like Amelie or City of Lost Children, but the familiar elements of those films are still here and make it enjoyable nonetheless. Louison: Nobody is entirely evil: it's that circumstances that make them evil, or they don't know they are doing evil.

• Arash X

  
  Bizzare post-apocalyptic black comedy and it has a colourful atmosphere and beautiful look like his most famous movie Amelie but ofcourse in a dark way

• Saskia D

  
  An enjoyable movie, but it didn't convince me completely. Although the story in itself is outrageous, it missed a certain edge. But still, the setting was great and the characters colorful. <a… More
  An enjoyable movie, but it didn't convince me completely. Although the story in itself is outrageous, it missed a certain edge. But still, the setting was great and the characters colorful. <a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/delicatessen/_Colossus_/Delicatessen/cap023.jpg?o=46" target="_blank"><img src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o91/_Colossus_/Delicatessen/cap023.jpg"></a>

• _kelly .

  
  What else to expect from this dream team-up than a masterpiece? Delicatessen is a fabuously toned film, the best sequence being the "sounds" montage. Just great. Have to see it if you have any interest in scifi, dystopian films, Jeunet's work, or solid films in general.

• Sarah G

  
  <a href="http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/array-011/?action=view&current=delicatessen.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/array-011/delicatessen.jpg" border="0"… More
  <a href="http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/array-011/?action=view&current=delicatessen.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o95/array-011/delicatessen.jpg" border="0" alt="delicatessen"></a> The story is centered on a microcosm of a post-apocalyptic society where food is so rare it's invaluable and is used as currency. The story centers on an apartment building with a delicatessen on the ground floor. The owner of the eatery also owns the apartment building and he is in need of a new maintenance man since the original "mysteriously" disappeared. A former clown applies for the job and the butcher's intent is to have him work for a little while and then serve him to quirky tenants who pay the butcher in, of course, grain. The clown and butcher's daughter fall in love and she tries to foil her father's plans by contacting the "troglodytes", a grain eating sub-group of society who live entirely underground. The "trogs" are possibly the most sensible of the lot, as they see food as food and not money From the makers of Amelie, comes this Terry Gilliam like film which surpasses my expectations. Thoroughly enjoyed it by the end, despite its cannibalistic themes. It is incredibly similar to The League of Gentlemen series, which is what I was thinking about during the film. Like The League of Gentlemen, what you are watching is funny, but because of the dark comedy elements, you?re not necessarily going to laugh. What I also loved was the fact what I was witnessing was incredibly original. The story may not be entirely engaging, but the brilliant cinematography, actors, script just makes you pay attention to every frame of the film-also due to the fact of the extraordinary landscape within the film, which could be compared to Gilliam?s Brazil. The dark side of some of the characters are incredibly well scripted and make you laugh and laugh. Delicatessen is set around a post-holocaust France, where there is a food shortage and of course a rumour of cannibalism. Every character, as I?ve said before is scripted well and almost mirrors that of your average village folk. For instance ?the Butcher? is referred to as ?the Butcher? and the same for the postman, which almost makes these characters as objects in the film rather than your more humane characters. The character of Lousisen is, as a typical ?village? cliché?, an outsider. This outsider poses a problem for the character of the Butcher. Immediately the viewer associates itself with the character of Louisen as you are a guest into this fantasy like world. Anything that comes across him, you almost feel what he is experiencing during the film. One of the key features of the film is the claustrophic atmosphere, as everything is set in one building. From the lady who hears voices, The Butcher who kills people for food, the the man with the frogs and the daughter of The Butcher, everything is amongst this tiny building. The camera shots here are also what makes the film. The quick editing, especially in one scene in particular adds to the comic value and almost makes you laugh as what you see in front of you, is unlike anything you?ve seen. On that note how many films have you seen which contains a bullshit detector, when incidentally is shown when the Butcher is asked is opinion on life! The atmosphere around the building is yellow, again which adds to the surrealism of the piece. You almost feel like it?s a dream of some sort. The acting is this is top notch. From Jean-Claude Dereyfuss? performance as The Butcher, Dominique Pinon as Louisen and Marie-Laure Dougnac as Julie all contribute to one hilarious film which I laughed an awful lot. In particular Dreyfuss is possibly the real star of the film. Despite his character being The Butcher, he delivers one hell of a performance which is the core of the film. I?m not quite sure what to say or how to describe it as it was just so funny. As I?ve said before, Delicatessen is visually perfect. From the near shot perfect opening, to the hilarious scene in the middle of the film, which I don?t want to give too much away. I have to admit that I?m not familiar with the two directors or some of the actors in the film, but for sure I will look out for their work in the future. I saw Amelie first and abolutly adored it and will try and get my hands on ?A Very Long Engagement? when I can. Delicatessen is a wonderfully crafted film which some very funny moments. It may not be for everyone but once you watch it you won?t stop.

• vieras e

  
  I loved how this film played around with sound and rhythm.

• Pierluigi P

  
  An inventive, funny and delightful Gilliam-esque visually stunning black comedy.

• Lafe F

  
  Dark and dirty slum-apartment setting with quirky characters, typical of Jeunet-directed films. I liked "City of Lost Children" and "Alien: Resurrection", but not this one.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings