Delicatessen (1991)

Directors:

Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Gilles Adrien (dialogue)
Gilles Adrien (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 April 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

A futuristic comic feast

Plot:

Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who creates cannibalistic meals for his odd tenants.

Plot Keywords:

Butcher | Food | Apartment Building | Clown | Underground

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 12 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Pascal Benezech	...	Tried to Escape
Dominique Pinon	...	Louison
Marie-Laure Dougnac	...	Julie Clapet
Jean-Claude Dreyfus	...	Clapet
Karin Viard	...	Mademoiselle Plusse
Ticky Holgado	...	Marcel Tapioca
Anne-Marie Pisani	...	Madame Tapioca
Boban Janevski	...	Young Rascal
Mikael Todde	...	Young Rascal (as Mikaël Todde)
Edith Ker	...	Grandmother
Rufus	...	Robert Kube
Jacques Mathou	...	Roger
Howard Vernon	...	Frog Man
Chick Ortega	...	Postman
Silvie Laguna	...	Aurore Interligator

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

99 min | Spain:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Constellation

Trivia:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet got the idea for the movie in 1988 while vacationing in America. He said after staying in America's hotels he felt the food was so bad that "it tasted like real humans". Then came the idea.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Julie welcomes Louison in her room and we see her following him to the table she has no socks, when she brings him later into his room after he has fallen asleep she has socks.

Quotes:

Louison: This is a job for the Australian!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Closer (2004/I)

An often ingenious, always entertaining cult favorite from France.

If you think the cannibal movie subgenre has been milked dry... think again! This one will have you from the opening credits. It's set in a crumbling apartment building in 21st century, post-apocalyptic Paris where food is at a minimum, grains are used as money and the butcher downstairs runs a black-market deli providing clientel with what seems to be the only meat product available, and it ain't chicken.

Dominique Pinon is an ex-circus clown who answers a personal ad doing odd jobs there and encounters assorted weirdos while being targeted as the main course. There's a noncomformist who eats snails and frogs, a band of grimy cave-dwelling looters, an unhinged woman whose botched suicide attempts are comic highlights and an amazing musical sequence featuring a cello, creaky bed springs, machinery, drills and other noises combining to create a symphony of sounds.

The oppressive atmosphere and murky brown color schemes could have easily turned this into a dreary disaster, but the directors keep it offbeat, surprising and clever throughout, and don't miss their chance to throw in some inventive black comedy.