Scored Review - Delicatessen

Delicatessen (1991)

Now, before I begin I must mention that this entire film is in French. Yes, it is a foreign film, and, yes, it is the type of film you would expect to see playing in a small art house that noone except for a few cigarette smoking beret wearing film snobs would attend. This does not, however, mean that you should pass up this film, but if you are one of those sad few who are so lazy that you can’t be bothered to read the subtitle, then by all means stop reading this review now.
Anybody still there? Good. Let’s get on with this.
Delicatessen is just one of those films that isn’t like ANYTHING you’ve seen before. Don’t believe me? Ok, let’s start with the setting. Delicatessen is set entirely in one building and the sewers below. Not weird enough yet? OK...lets say that maybe this building is smack dab in the middle of post-apocalyptic France. Oh, and through subtle clues in the movie apparently World War II didn’t go the same way. Still not convinced? Let’s move on to the plot. Apparently, in post-apocalyptic France not only is canabalism no longer frowned upon, it is now a way of life as the apocalypse seems to have killed all the livestock. Some of you may be saying, “Why don’t they just eat vegetables?” Well, for god knows what reason, they use vegetables as money. Unless you’re the building’s local prostitute of course. (Just watch the movie)
Our protagonist, Louison, is an ex-clown who decided to leave the city and move out to the country to answer the ad of a landlord and butcher, Clapet. Clapet rents his building out to a very strange host of tenets. The main reason that these tenets live in this building is that Clappet will every so often butcher the handyman and serve him up, at a reduced price of course, to the occupants of his building. All is going according to plan as Clapet hires on Louison as the new handyman with the intent to later feed him to the building, when Clapet’s daughter, Julie, falls for Lousion.
What follows are some of the darkest, most hilarious, childishly whimsical scenes I have ever seen. The set design is impeccable and the plot is extremely tangential yet it manages to boil down to an appropriate yet thrilling Climax
If you have any desire to see cinema as an actual art form I would recommend you rent or buy this movie. It may be somewhat hard to find in your local Block Buster so look for it in a local independent movie rental or buy it off the internet.

Pros
- An amazingly captivating performance by actors who are NOT being paid millions to do so.
- Probably the scariest dream sequence involving a monkey I’ve ever seen.
- While watching this I was either leaning forward in my seat or rolling back in it laughing.

Cons
- Yes, you will have to read subtitles
- Uses a lot of imagery that in actuality has no meaning behind it
- None of your “cool” friends will treat you the same after you force them to watch this.

Final Decision: 4.5/5