ElMaruecan82
"Delicatessen" is surreal and eccentric like a Gilliam movie with Disney-like areas of tenderness.
It's over-the-top and flamboyant like a Fellini, hilarious and cartoonish like a Tex Avery cartoon, violent and disturbing like a Mario Bava flick, bleak, dystopian and mechanical like a Kubrick and all wrapped up in an atmosphere channeling the classics of directors Carné and Duvivier, pioneers of French poetic realism.
"Delicatessen" is a movie reconciling Meliès and Romero, Bugs Bunny and Hannibal Lecter, French old-school cinema and a new generation of creative gizmos born in the cradle of TV, advertising clips and cartoons and that defined the 90's like Tarantino did for Hollywood.
"Delicatessen", directorial debut of Marc Caro and "Amélie"'s director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is in terms of historical significance, the French equivalent of "Reservoir Dogs", a cult-classic that reshaped cinema with the sound of knives and Jean-Louis Dreyfus' maniac laugh.... and it's also a masterpiece of black comedy.
And for all the hyperbola I just wasted, let me say that the real genius of Jeunet and Caro is to have escaped from genre branding while reprising very familiar elements from French cinema and Hollywood, it's like a delicious stew of familiar ingredients with a unprecedented taste. Caro, a fan of animation and funfair, and Jeunet, a director of hip ad clips of the 80's/90's had made several creations before, including a futuristic short in 1981. They wanted to work together so they wrote "The City of Lost Children", deemed too expensive, they had to make their bones with a less ambitious and more intimate movie.
Living above a butcher's shop and hearing every morning the sound of knives being sharpened, Jeunet remembered his girlfriend telling him the butcher was killing the residents and they were next on the list. That was the genesis of "Delicatessen". And the opening sequence turned it into a cult-scene, which is saying a lot in a film where creative sequences are as numerous as worms over rotten meat. You see a nervous man with bugled eyes, trying to escape from the butcher Clapet (Dreyfus), Clapet isn't ugly, he has what they call a "gueule", now allow me a digression to explain the notion.
The French word "Gueule" usually refers to an animal's mouth, it's also used to define a mug, an ugly or intimidating one, nothing really pleasant to look at anyway. But in French Cinema, the word has become a 'term of endearment' describing a face exuding natural charisma whether for its rugged beauty, intimidating look or some unique oddity, just like Michel Simon or Fernandel. Jeunet loves these 'gueules' and his film features many priceless ones like Dreyfus, Rufus, Dominique Pinon and Ticky Holgado. The lighting does the rest, making an ugly face even uglier (Dreyfus) or more sympathetic (Pinon).
So we follow the mysterious man as he can't can't exactly avoid his horrific encounter with Clapet's knife but the way it's played is for laughs, a gag that could have been inspired by a Looney Tunes cartoon while establishing the atmosphere of terror caused by Clapet. The first seconds of "Delicatessen" epitomizes what the film is about, a weird mixture of thrills and humor so neatly concocted that you never know exactly if you should be scared or laugh. Even the moments of genuine sweetness, mostly between Clapet's daughter Julie (Marie Laure Dougnac) and Louison the newly hired handyman and former clown (Pinon) are played like straight romance but with a comedic touch.
Louison is the main character, he came to replace the former handyman. Ignoring his awaiting fate, he's nice with all the maniac inhabitants of the building: a man raising snails and frogs, a bourgeois couple with a suicidal woman, two men making moo toys, the Tapiocas, a poor family with two boys and a grandmother. They all live in an old building surrounded by some yellowish clouds, and where pipes can be improvised as communication medium, a device that was used in American thriller "Single White Female". I wonder if this worked as an inspiration but it certainly contributed to one of the film's most iconic scenes, a montage of various activities including Julie playing cello, Louison painting the ceiling, Mrs. Tapioca removing dust from the carpet and Clapet being 'paid in kind' by Mrs. Plusse (Karin Viard).
There's so much promiscuity that each of Clapet's pulses on the squeaking mattress make the others take up the rhythm and follow it, the climax is perhaps one of the funniest moments of French cinema. Jeunet, who's no marketing newcomer, knew that it would make the perfect trailer for the film and yes, it that doesn't encourage you to watch it, I don't know what does. And besides the laughs, the film shows one aspect of French culture "à l'ancienne" which is the use of props, pumps, pencils, knives, this is a film that pays a huge tribute to the system D and the resourcefulness in terms of "Do-it-yourself" transcended by the creative suicides of Aurore, using many Rupe Goldberg devices as hilariously inventive as they're inefficient.
Even the opening credits shows a sort of bric-à-brac, the kind of chaotic mess of objects that can lead to the best of creation, it shows the heritage of the two directors, heirs of George Meliès, a craftsman, the idea that cinema is all about tricks, about little ideas and details popping out with the magic of the camera, a sepia cinematography from Damien Khondji and a script that dares to go very far like a Gilliam movie, with the hilarious interventions of a mysterious sewers' group named the Troglodytes, but unlike Gilliam, Jeunet and Caro can be intoxicated by their extravaganza but not to the point of suffocation.
It's a feast to the eyes, a delight to the senses, a chaotic mess with outbursts of genius.... And where you start discovering a new fun detail after each viewing, like in the best comic-book. No holds barred, perfect editing and fun from beginning to end.
"Bon Appétit!"
Teerabhat Ruensiri
On one hand, this film has a lot of originality, especially the way it narrates the story and the interconnection of events; however, it also contains a lot of clichés that you see coming minutes before it actually comes. Nevertheless; if you have spare time, there is no reason to miss this.I rate a film 8/10 when it's a good film of a particular generation but does not establish itself as a timeless classic. This means people will think of it when they try to come up with names of films in this genre or theme, and it's enjoyable to re-watch from time to time regardless of personal preference. Think of Love Actually, Harry Potter and the like. To reach 9/10, it must push the standard to the next level either by displaying a sheer perfection or reinventing the genre. Lord of The Rings is a good example for 9/10 as it is a sensibly 'perfect' film that pushes the limit of production, special effect etc.
