Delicatessen [1991] | ![Delicatessen [1991]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416BXGAZN8L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: Jean-pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro
Actors: Marie-laure Dougnac, Dominique Pinon, Pascal Benezech, Jean-claude Dreyfus, Karin Viard
Studio: Momentum Pictures
Category: DVD
Buy New: £27.94
New (3) Used (2) from £27.94
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 11860
Format: Pal, Widescreen
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5060021175403
ASIN: B0000634BZ
Theatrical Release Date: April 3, 1992
Release Date: April 15, 2002
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Delicatessen presents a post-apocalyptic scenario set entirely in a dank and gloomy building where the landlord operates a delicatessen on the ground floor. But this is an altogether meatless world, so the butcher-landlord keeps his customers happy by chopping unsuspecting victims into cutlets, and he's sharpening his knife for the new tenant (French comic actor Dominque Pinon) who's got the hots for the butcher's near-sighted daughter. Delicatessen is a feast (if you will) of hilarious vignettes, slapstick gags, and sweetly eccentric characters, including a man in a swampy room full of frogs, a woman doggedly determined to commit suicide (she never gets it right) and a pair of brothers who make toy sound boxes that "moo" like cows. It doesn't amount to much as a story, but that hardly matters; this is the kind of comedy that leaps from a unique wellspring of imagination and inspiration, and it's handled with such visual virtuosity that you can't help but be mesmerised. French co-directors of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro have wildly inventive imaginations that gravitate to the darker absurdities of human behaviour, and their visual extravagance is matched by impressive technical skill. There's some priceless comedy here, some of which is so inventive that you may feel the urge to stand up and cheer. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com On the DVD: the special features are pretty standard, with a trailer, "making of" featurette and footage of the rehearsal process. The audio commentary is supplied by Jeunet, which, although interesting, is in French and thus necessitates the use of subtitles which then obliterate the movie's own subtitles. Once the commentary is on it is virtually impossible to turn this option off without reloading the disc. However, the Dolby stereo works wonders for this film, which is rich in sound, and surprisingly the 1.85:1 letterbox ratio is perfect for a film that is grainy by design. --Nikki Disney
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 A very disturbing film - disturbing that it makes you laugh. November 11, 2008
phil mars (WALES--UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is film noir set I presume in post world war 2 Paris, but anyway the details don't matter except to say that the starkness of the landscape is echoed in that of peoples' struggle to survive. The fascination is that up to an almost ridiculous point a pretense of adhering to various social conventions is kept up while all the while macabre scenes lurk and hang unseen ( but not unheard ) . It is certainly of the 'elephant in the room ' variety that few wish to either acknowledge or confront - you will soon work it out for yourself.The film revels in rapaciousness. You will find yourself laughing at absurdity, at touching moments of human urbanity,but also at things which normally would be too chilling to be funny. Very well acted and tightly directed.
 BEWARE!!! October 13, 2008
Adrian Collingwood (Durban South Africa)
On the basis that I've seen worse movies than this, I have to give it two stars - the classification system does not allow for none, so I can't give it just one.
I went to some lengths to get my copy sent to me.It's a pity that I did.
I really can't say anything good about it.Believe me, I tried!
My wife sat next to me and wanted to know why I'd wasted my(she actually meant "our" ) money and then went to bed.I stayed up, hoping to be able to reportshe'd left too soon... but, if anything it got worse.
The prospect of seeing a good comedy appealed to me - but if it ever was funny, the humour does not translate. I could find nothing to smile at.
 Quirky, funny, creative and DARK July 1, 2008
Polly on film (London, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When recently asked by colleagues what my favourite film was, I said I couldn't pick one in particular, but a French film called Delicatessen would certainly be in the top five.
"What's it about?" they asked, as one would expect from a small group, all of whom had yet to see it:
"In a post-apocalyptic French apartment block in a world in which the resource we call meat is scarce, the Landlord, a butcher whose shop is annexed to the building, serves his clients the meat of tenants that get behind with the rent."
That's enough to put your average film lover off, and my colleagues, which is both true and a shame.
This film is multi-layered due to aspects of the building and the various characters, the tenants, who reside there. It's a black comedy, it's a creative masterpiece, it's a love story, it's a thriller, it's a joy and it has few peers - Amelie would one, although Amelie dispenses with the dark humour, gains a little from advances in CGI (and budget) and as a result becomes a worldwide hit.
One of the tenants has rid himself of the need to purchase any food types by flooding his apartment to make it a rampant breeding ground for snails and frogs.
If that isn't enough reason to spend 90 minutes of your life watching it, I'll stop right there.
oh wow!!! May 21, 2008
Ms. F. I. Macdonald (uk)
what a fab film!!I cant really describe this film, other than it is a clevery woven masterpeice from two brilliant directors whose ideas are totally new and refreshing. A dark and tantalisingly haunting comedy about what happens when people get far too hungry in a world where the only meat available is off the bones of humans...
A True Feast! March 20, 2008
Peaches (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Clapet (Jean Claude Dreyfuss) owns a butcher shop and the tenements above it. He is looking for a maintenance man and advertises in the Hard Times paper. An unemployed clown (Dominique Pinon) applies for the job, and so sets the scene for the ensuing lunacy.
As meat is in such short supply, Clapet has an unusual technique of procuring meat for his clientele. Pinon being next for the chopping board. However, this time, his daughter has fallen in love with the 'new boy' and tries to thwart her father's plans.
The uncanny ensemble of characters that dwell at this dilapidated tenancy include 2 gentlemen that make moo sound toys boxes, a lady whose suicide attempts are perpetually hapless, and a Mr Potin, who lives in a swamp and dines on frogs.
Clowns looking for employment as maintenance men, squeaky bed springs, curious lodgers, an introduction to the subterranean `troglodytes', meat as currency......and love. Coupled with brilliant cinematography, and macabre humour, there are some exquisite moments in this film.
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