Search - Delicatessen (Special Edition) on DVD

Incredibly funny

Kerry Walters | Lewisburg, PA USA | 09/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Delicatessan" is simply one of the funniest films I've ever seen. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who also gave us the equally quirky and delightful "City of Lost Children," the film begins in a post-apocalyptic and dying world in which nothing grows and ends in a reborn one where blue skies and fruitful earth has returned. The action takes place in a half-ruined apartment building whose residents are kept from starving by the Sweeney Todd-like practices of their landlord, a butcher. But the butcher's daughter, wonderfully played by Marie-Laure Dougnac, and the ex-clown who comes to work for her father, put an end to the nefarious practice.

The visuals of the film are incredible. To underscore the theme of butchery and meat-eating, the very walls of the apartment building, in both color and texture, look vaguely like meat. Long drainage pipes, which the camera frequently follows from the inside, look like esophagus and stomach passageways and intestines.

The visual surreality is matched by the surreal characters: a rich resident named Aurore whose Rube Goldberg-complicated attempts at suicide all end in failure; a resident who lives in the basement, regularly floods his dwelling to cultivate mold, slime, and snails, which he then devours with gusto; two roommates who make those little cans which, when turned upside down, emit a lugubrious "moo"; a family with demon kids and an aged grandmom who eventually gets turned into pate; the butcher himself who loves his work; the clown who cames to dinner; and a bunch of revolutionaries who call themselves the Troglydites and are as inept as a bunch of Keystone Cops.

An incredibly rich, hilarious, satisfying film. Easily 5+ stars."

One of the best french films

S. hacker | tn, usa | 10/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great movie. Enjoyable all the way throw,that provided many of laughs.
A dark comedy about a butcher who butchers people then sales the meat to tenants in the appartments up above.I love the settings of the film i belive its taken place in the 50s.Great acting great storyline.This film gets five stars from me."

Dark,dark,comedy, great for a weekend afternoon.

lewis sinclair | iowa | 10/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The French seem to be really good at making imaginitive dark comedies. Like the Lost City of Children and Delicatessan. Watch it when you have plenty of time and aren't in a hurry or thinking about something else. Great for a lazy weekend afternoon."

Does this taste funny to you?

S. Perry | MA | 08/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Delicatessen could probably be billed as Amelie's psychotic little sister. It's a dark and visually tantilizing film that somehow manages to be cutely romantic while having cannibalism as its central theme. It's not particularly gory, but it does require a good sense of gallows-humor to be enjoyed. If (in addition to Amelie) you've enjoyed movies like Brazil and City of The Lost Children, I think this would be right up your alley."