Powerful

Best movie of this year hands down!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Don't even fully know why I'm writing this, I guess it's because there were so many splendid visual treats throughout I found myself a little hypnotized. Right from the start the credit titles were just startlingly fascinating to watch! (took me back to my favorite main tile design for "Walk on the Wild Side" '61). Fabulous Production Design by Marc Caro with all sets capturing that grotty, old, old look of Paris being just great - as is the cinematography by Iranian Darius Khondji (The Immigrant '13) - much beyond all these eye popping aspects this film tends to lurch from one grotesque situation to another.While an impressive feature directorial/screenplay debut for Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, felt it might have been great as a 40min surrealist featurette of the type the French and British were so good at in the 50s & 60's - as a full feature it begins to run out of steam mid way, where it begins to ramble incessantly. The cultists will adore it - those who are looking for more than nasty style and madness may wane well before the end. I agreed with the New York Times 'spot-on' summary referring to the plot becoming "quite literally a washout when the bathtub overflows". Those who last to the end should enjoy the very likable performances of the main leads - along with a melodic music score by Argentinian Carlos D'Alessio (sadly his last feature score). One of his themes had such a familiar refrain that I found myself humming along - then realized it reminded me of the great Dion top 40 chart topper from the 60s "I Can't Believe It's True" (ironically that title sort of describes this plot!). Those who know this marvelous song may find themselves looking through their record collections or singing it to themselves next day.The Sound Track for this inventive score is available on CD (Polydor I think)

In a post-apocalyptic France of the future, meat has become exceedingly rare. So much so that it now can be used as currency. The residents of an apartment block above a deli have come to depend heavily on the strange man, Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) employed as their butcher. Then one day an entertainer named Louison (Dominique Pinon) comes to the place to accept a job as a handyman. Louison finds himself quite taken with Clapets' sexy daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), but his new life may not be what it's cracked up to be. He may have some other purpose in the building other than odd jobs.At its best, this completely off the wall and extremely stylized French take on post-nuke and cannibal cinema is one of the most original films of its kind. The co-directors, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, give "Delicatessen" a striking visual design, largely avoiding cool colours like blue (although there are occasional flashes of green); the colour palette consists of a lot of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. It's a clever hook, but also making this a worthy entertainment are the incredible energy and the consistent tone of dark, and farcical, humour. There's nothing else this viewer has seen that is quite like "Delicatessen", and that can only be a good thing.The performances themselves are very stylized, with the well chosen actors going for broke a lot of the time. Pinon and Dougnac are appealing in the leading roles. Also leaving a big impression are Dreyfus, Karin Viard, Ticky Holgado, Anne-Marie Pisani, Howard Vernon, and especially Silvie Laguna as the troubled Aurore, driven to stage very elaborate suicide attempts by "voices". Caro can be seen on screen as Fox, one of the cave dwellers.Caro and Jeunet are able to reach some appreciable heights of lunacy here, matched by the wonderfully memorable imagery throughout.This one gets a solid recommendation.Eight out of 10.

DelicatessenIn a post-apocalyptic future the world's Cheez Whiz supply would have to be used to re-caulk all the buildings.Thankfully the tenants in this sci-fi comedy don't have to lick cracks for sustenance.On the ground floor of a dilapidated apartment is a butcher (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) who always has fresh meat despite there being a food shortage.Answering an ad in the newspaper, Louison (Dominique Pinon) lands the job of assistant to the butcher.Eventually Louison's charms win over the butcher's daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac). But with her father planning on putting Louison on the menu, she seeks the assistance of an underground cell of rebellious vegetarians. Conceptualized by the director of Amélie, Delicatessen is a quirky cannibal love-story crammed with eccentric characters that never takes itself too seriously, or too lighthearted.Furthermore, with all the hormones and preservatives we ingest, human meat would have a very long shelf life.Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Pushing aside a presumption of a bland cannibal movie, Delicatessen provided an interesting view with its dark cinematography with slight yet effective humor and unpredictable twists. The ingenious and entertaining integration of different noises to create music as well as the creation of rhythmic movements with sounds coming from the television are only two of the many creative ideas touched upon throughout the movie. The usual clichés of post apocalyptic dystopia has been effectively confined into a minimum while using the clichés to an advantage in producing cringing revelations throughout the movie. The movie's best feature would be its various side stories which look into the lives of the various different tenants of the butcher's building. The employment of humor in tragedy has been another highlight of the movie. However, the story suffers from a lack of elaboration in some parts of it. The movie itself was a little slow at times. Despite the slight drawbacks, the movie is definitely worth a watch due to its original concepts attractive to any movie enthusiast.