Delicatessen (1991)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Directors:

Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Gilles Adrien (dialogue)
Gilles Adrien (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 April 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

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:

Metaphor | Dystopic Future | Surrealism | Black Comedy | Cannibalism

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 12 wins & 8 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

Also Known As:

Delicatessen (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Delicatessen (Greece) [el]
Delicatessen (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Delicatessen (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Delicatessen (Brazil) [pt]
Delicatessen - herkuttelijoiden yö (Finland) [fi]
Delikatesna radnja (Serbia) [sr]
Delikatessen (Sweden) [sv]
Delikatesy (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

99 min | Spain:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

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 a cannibal butcher when living in an apartment above a butcher's shop. Each morning at 7am he would hear the metallic clash of knives and a voice shout, "Chop chop!" His girlfriend said he was carving up the neighbors, and it would be their turn next week.

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:

Clapet: You think this is a safari, bitch?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

absolutely riveting!!!!

Melding the perfect mixture of the visual grace of a silent film with a modern soundscape and bearing a twenty-first century post-apocalyptic sardonic sense of humor, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's "Delicatessen" becomes one of the finest contemporary films.

This pitch black comedy delves into cannibalism and oddball romance in the same breath with equal gusto and therefore feels horrific, humorous, and haunting all at once. Every frame is a wonder of detail and originality that reinvigorates even the most jaded and long-time film viewer with the sense of rediscovering the art form. This is film-making in the highest regard worthy of praise, awe, and multiple viewings.