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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: March 25th, 2025.
Director: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Cast: Marie-Laure Dougnac, Dominique Pinon, Pascal Benezech, Howard Vernon
Year: 1991
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Delicatessen – Movie Review:
Before Jean-Pierre Jeunet won oodles of critical acclaim for his hit, Amelie, he was best known for his collaborations with Marc Caro, with whom he made the dark and wonderful The City of Lost Children, and of course, Delicatessen – a strange hybrid of science fiction elements with trappings of black humor and cannibalism. This film has brought them many admirers, including Terry Gilliam and for quite a while it was strangely absent on DVD in North America (you'd have thought that it would have come out around the same time as Amelia to cash in on that's film's popularity) until it came out via Miramax. A Blu-ray came out a few years back and now Severin Films brings the film to UHD.
The story is based around Louison (Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon who also appears in Amelie), who arrives out of nowhere one day, in a post-apocalyptic world, or more specifically, a small town in France. Louison is looking for work in trade for room and board, as a former clown his skills aren't so much in demand, but he is a perfectly capable laborer and while he doesn't have much money he's perfectly happy to work for what he needs. He finally finds a job as a handyman in a strange old apartment building overtop of a butcher shop, where, to his delight, he is given lodging and some food in exchange for his services by the butcher himself, a man named Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus of The City Of Lost Children).
Food is a hot commodity in this world and used as currency. Most people live off grain and other bland consumables and use more expensive foods like meat as barter, and because of this a lot of people are also cannibals. The butcher shop downstairs takes care of this for the tenants, but unluckily for Louison, he's next on the menu. Things get a little complicated for the butcher, who intends to serve him up to the tenants who live above him in exchange for grain, when his pretty daughter, Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), falls in love with Louison as she knows all too well what her father and his tenants are up to. To save his life, she gets in touch with an underground movement made up of some eccentric vegetarian rebels who actually east food rather than covet it as a possession.
On a visual level, Delicatessen is a completely amazing film that could easily draw comparisons to the better works of Terry Gilliam with maybe some of the stranger elements of David Fincher's catalogue thrown in for good measure – but which also stands on its own as a completely unique animal. Strange architecture, oddly mutant like cast members, and bizarre and unlikely color schemes with an emphasis on organic Earth tones like green, yellow and brown give the film a very original visual flair uncommon in most other films. Every frame is constructed with a detail-oriented sense of care and the compositions in this movie are absolutely perfect from start to finish. Truly one of the finest examples of just how good a film can look made within the last fifteen years, Delicatessen is such a sumptuous looking movie that it's really hard to appreciate just how pretty it all is upon first viewing and as such, it holds up well and for that reason it has quite a bit of replay value. Repeat viewings ensure that you'll pick out little details that you didn't notice the first or even second time around.
The performances in the film are similarly fantastic. Dominique Pinon is completely sympathetic and a genuinely likeable guy in the film, we're able to feel for him and understand his plight and we honestly don't want to see him end up on someone's dinner plate. We're able to invest enough in his performance that we care about him and therefore we care about the outcome of the film, especially when his romance with Julie kicks in. To that mind, Marie-Laure Dougnac is adorable in her part, she's quirky and odd but there's a sweetness to her in the movie that suits the equally goofy sweetness that Louison carries about. The true star of the cast, however, is Jean-Claude Dreyfus who is over the top pretty much throughout the film and he brings a very funny persona to the movie that works well in the setting of the story. It helps as well that Dreyfus has some of the best lines of dialogue in the film, made even more memorable by his delivery (his interaction with the "Bullshit Detector" is classic!). Look for Jess Franco/Euro-cult regular Howard Vernon, who pops up in the film in a fun supporting role.
The story is quirky and while it's very dark it keeps its tongue very much in cheek while the film takes us through the beautiful and freakish world that Jeunet and Caro have created. It's a strange film of contrasts, clashing horror with love and suspense with comedy, but it's a very original work that proves to be both interesting and entertaining at the same time. It isn't particularly thought-provoking, and at times it seems to be simply weird for the sake of being weird, but those with a taste for surrealist black comedy should embrace the film with open arms.
Delicatessen – UHD/Blu-ray Review:
Severin Films brings Delicatessen to UHD with an HVEC encoded 2160p transfer “restored in 4K from the original camera negative by StudioCanal under the supervision of Jeunet.” Framed at 1.85.1 widescreen, this transfer does a great job of replicating the film’s unusual color scheme, heavy on yellow and green, while keeping the black levels inky deep. Skin tones look good when they’re supposed to, and detail is impressive throughout. There’s great depth and texture evident throughout most of the presentation and the picture avoids compression issues even when there’s a lot of fog or moving water on screen. There are no problems to note here, the image looks really strong and offers a really nice upgrade over past Blu-ray editions.
French language audio options are provided in 24-bit DTS-HD in 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound options, with removable subtitles provided in English only. The 5.1 mix is the way to go, offering nice surround activity that fills the room effectively. Rear channel activity is frequent, and the levels are balanced nicely. Dialogue is clean and clear, the score sounds great and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion.
Extras are spread across the two discs in this set as follows:
Disc One (UHD):
An audio Commentary with Co-Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is provided, in French with English subtitles. He handles this chore alone without the aid of his co-director, Marc Caro, who apparently hates commentary tracks and for that reason did not participate. Jeunet is interesting to listen to and talks about a lot of the themes and ideas that the pair wanted to work into the film and his feelings on how they turned out in the final product. He also covers how, when it was all said and done, he and Caro realized that they'd made a film that had scenes in it that might be familiar, maybe a little too familiar, to a few specific older movies though he states that this is completely coincidental.
A trailer for the feature is also provided.
Disc Two (Blu-ray):
That same trailer and commentary are found on the included Blu-ray disc, as well as a few featurettes starting with an interview with Co-Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro where the men spend twenty-six minutes talking about their experiences making the film, sharing some interesting stories from the shoot and noting that how for a lot of people involved with the production, it was their first movie. They discuss where their careers were during this time, coming up with ideas for the movie, the different people that they collaborated with, where some of the inspiration for the film came from, how they work together, the distinct look of the movie and why they chose the color scheme that they did, set design and art direction, casting decisions and how the film was received at various festivals upon release.
There is also a great making of featurette entitled Fine Cooked Meats: A Nod To Delicatessen which presented in French (with easy-to-read English subtitles) and runs about fourteen minutes long. For a shorter piece, there is quite a bit of interesting information and gives us a nice look at the filmmakers in action. The most interesting part is seeing how some of the locations and sets were shot and how the filmmakers got the 'perfect look' that they were going for with this project. This clocks in at thirteen and a half minutes in length and is well worth checking out, if only for the sequences where they need to shoot in and around water.
Copains Comme Cochons is an interview with Co-Director Marc Caro running forty-two minutes. This piece covers what got him into filmmaking, artistic and literary influences that have stuck with him throughout his life and career, his work as a professional comic book artist, getting his start in film doing 16mm productions, how he came to know and then collaborate with Jean-Pierre Jeunet as well as the collaborative nature of their work, how he came to work with Claudie Ossard, different actors that he's admired over the years, how Delicatessen was received when first released and how/why he still needs to be surprised by films when most of them are quite predictable by nature.
The Tale Of Terry Gilliam Presents Delicatessen is an interview with Terry Gilliam running eighteen minutes. He shares his thoughts on the film and how he came to "present" the movie, how his career started to take off after making Time Bandits which was a film that the major studios all rejected, working with George Harrison on the production, how this led to his making Brazil and the success that picture enjoyed, how he came to advocate for the film for its American release, Harvey Weinstein's part in distributing the movie and getting Gilliam to put his name on the movie as a 'presenter' before he'd actually seen the movie, why he agreed to do this once he knew the directors were okay with this, his thoughts on the movie and how it took things to a very cartoonish nature, his love of the cast in the film, some of his favorite scenes in the movie and the characters that live in it and how he appreciates the fact that the movie is timeless and lives in a world of its own.
Delicatessen – The Final Word:
Delicatessen holds up well, as wholly unique as it is charming and quirky. It’s a film full of fantastic art direction and great performances and Severin has done an excellent job bringing it to UHD, with a gorgeous presentation and a nice selection of extra features. Great stuff!
