Delicatessen

A masters course in bizarreness. It’s hard to say what Delicatessen is about, but it’s set in such a weird world that it doesn’t matter. There were moments when I felt that the film’s efforts to look so fundamentally different and original are so obvious that they actually harm it. In any case, the visuals are beautiful, the direction is brimming with interesting ideas and the humour can be so goofy that it’s impossible not to laugh. Interesting experience. (04/05/2009)

A bizarrely served movie delicacy with a hint of decadence. And it’s all presented in indescribably wonderful sepia visuals. Although it is just an experiment with no story, the atmosphere of the old decrepit tenement block and its rather quirky tenants is engrossing... In a bizarrely delicious way. (22/01/2007)

Delicatessen feels like it’s stuffed to the brim with artsy nonsense, kind of like that pig on the film’s poster, ready for slaughter. It's the kind of movie that’s visually fascinating, but hard to sit through and even harder to rate. The director’s imagination is undeniable—this film could only come from a mad genius. (28/03/2011)

An amazing world and a perfect film at the same time. This film breaks away from just about everything and goes its own original way with some pretty twisted characters laced with dark humour and brilliant audio-visuals. At times, Delicatessen took my breath away. Strong 4. France in full force. 80%. (17/12/2015)

Delicatessen launched director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's career and allowed him to gain experience in Hollywood by directing the fourth Alien movie and making his masterpiece, Amelie. It is one of those playful, artistically fascinating, and adequately provocative films that are difficult to categorize and remain in one's memory for a long time. The center of the story is a house standing abandoned in a grey, gloomy landscape struck by catastrophe. In undesirable conditions, most of the residents struggle and try to find something to eat. The butcher who owns a shop on the ground floor can provide meat from time to time and has thus become the unofficial ruler. However, the means of acquiring the meat are somewhat questionable. The house is also interesting because no caretaker ever lasts long there. The tenants try to attract one with an advertisement titled Tough Times. But one day, a caretaker arrives who disrupts the appetite of the diners and turns everything in the house upside down... This intelligent, difficult-to-classify comedy was created with difficulty - a whole four years (because the project's producers did not believe in it) - based on the concept by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-director Marc Caro. The film is inspired by French alternative comics, abounds in elegantly served gags in the style of the darkest humor, and thanks to the directorial sophistication, it has a special atmosphere and an unmistakable personal rhythm. For example, the scene with the creaking bed is memorable, where something typical between a man and a woman takes place, or the poetic concert for a saw and a cello, in which the enamored caretaker confesses his feelings. In this film, visually enhanced titles and camera trips through a network of pipes and skylights, grotesquely resembling the distorted characters of the house's inhabitants, are a treat. The bizarre characters that appear in this film could unsettle even an experienced psychiatrist. Delicatessen is an example of a film where the plot is not important, but the emotions it evokes are, and those who can immerse themselves in its atmosphere and enjoy it will be more than satisfied. Overall impression: 90%. (04/01/2008)