Delicatessen (Miramax Edition)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: B     Film: B-

 

 

1991’s Delicatessen is a strange Post-Apocalyptic surrealist black comedy directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.  Caro’s work is not nearly as recognized my American audiences as Jeunet’s who would be responsible for the film The City of the Lost Children, Alien: Resurrection, and Amelie.  His style is easily recognized with lots of filter effects that make everything usually look more orange in nature and the use of certain camera angles that are more fish-eyed in nature.  If you have seen these three films than you already have a general idea.

 

Delicatessen also has that certain feel and mood to it.  This however it one odd film!  The film is essentially about a landlord who prepares cannibalistic meals for his odd tenants…yeah, very odd. 

 

It’s quite fair though to say that this is a one-of-a-kind type of film though that is creative and innovative in certain respects.  This does not mean that everyone will become an instant fan.  I personally was not a huge fan of City of Lost Children from its story perspective, but I did appreciate its style.  I felt the same way about Alien: Resurrection, but was sorely disappointed by Amelie after so many people rambled on and on about how great it was. 

 

The film was shot in (or with the lenses of) Technovision with an aspect ratio of 1.85 X 1 and has been anamorphically enhanced for this DVD presentation.  However, this is a big disappointment as the film looks far too grainy and has a lot of debris, plus detail loss.  There is a orangish-look that is suppose to be throughout the film to give it a more sepia-tone effect, which comes off well, but there is just a bit too much detail loss, which compromises the picture a bit too much.  One nice thing though is that the English subtitles are in yellow, which make them very easy to read.  The Dolby Digital Surround is decent, but nothing spectacular.  Since this is a fairly less-engaging soundtrack it doesn’t hurt too much and dialogue is clear for those that understand French.  I doubt that doing a 5.1 mix would benefit too much. 

 

Extras are good though with a commentary track by Jeunet as well as an archive section with him as well.  There is also a feature called “Fine Cooked Meats” and a few teasers/trailers.  That makes this an appealing DVD and will most likely be marketed towards the fans of Amelie, although the film has built up its fair share of cult followers over the years even in the States.

 

 

-   Nate Goss