Delicatessen

Delicatessen is the 1991 black comedy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and makes his other films like Amelie look about as whimsical as a documentary on abortion. This is seriously twisted stuff that you can only imagine someone writing after taking some pretty potent hallucinogens.

Dominique Pinon stars as Louison, the odd-jobs man who's hired by a butcher (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) who runs a not exactly typical delicatessen/hotel. What's unusual about this place is that most of the food sold here is the body parts of former odd-jobs men that our kind hearted butcher has killed once he's got some value out of them. Louison is next for the butcher's hook, and guests are getting impatiently hungry, except the butcher would like Louison to finish redoing the ceiling first. Louison's unaware of the butcher's intentions, but not for too long since the butcher's daughter (Marie-Laure Dougnac) falls in love with him and, after failing to convince her father to turn his intentions elsewhere, hatches a plan to have Louison kidnapped by an underground race. Just your typical Sunday morning comedy then.

This is wonderfully bizarre stuff and whilst maybe not consistently funny enough to sustain the running time, it does have some magical moments throughout. A lady's continued failed attempts at suicide and a wonderfully edited 'musical number' are the highlights. The set design is award-worthy stuff as well - in fact, and it's not often you say this, it is probably worth the rental fee alone.

What sets Delicatessen apart from other dystopic fantasies like Gilliam's Brazil, is it's whimsical sense of humour. Brazil, although it undoubtedly has ardent fans, for me just isn't particularly engaging and the emphasis in that film is on the satire. Delicatessen on the other hand has the emphasis on fun, on chance and on whimsy. It's what makes it work so well.

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