Delicatessen (1991)

3.5 / 5
Tagline: A futuristic comic feast
Directed By: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Written By: Gilles Adrien,
Actors Include: Pascal Benezech, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Horror
Length: 99 minutes
Banned: nope
Country: France

Review:
I'd read how inventive, and entertainingly surreal this one was, and well I like cannibal movies so I was pretty easily enticed. It didn't hurt that this nearly has an 8.0 rating on IMDB which is pretty much unheard of for any sort of horror film. This was of course before I saw the film and realized that the horror is mainly suggestive and it's more of a surrealist black comedy than anything. That wouldn't be so bad but a lot of French humor I guess I just don't get. The film is set in the future where food is scarce and society is a mess...I think. See none of this is explained, we are only to piece things together with what we see. This future has groups of folks who dwell underground called troglodytes. The story however takes place in this beat up apartment building where the owner, a butcher is feeding off of tenants unable to pay rent and folks who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (we really don't get to see much with this unfortunately). He also has a young daughter who lives in the building and is really sweet. Her father hires a new likeable handyman (who is a former clown) and he falls for his daughter. Of course things don't go well in this situation and it ends up in quite the mess towards the end of the movie (which I shouldn't spoil). Most of the entertaining moments come from this woman in the building who repeatedly tries to commit suicide in clever ways, but never seems to win the battle. It is shot very surrealistically and it is interesting to watch in that regard. Certainly many details were thought of and the atmosphere is rather intriguing. Actually it seems as though tons of work and detailing were put into the film, but it really did lack further explanation not to mention it is really tame when you boil everything down. Still this will vastly appeal to some, and others are going to walk away disappointed, I think it's just one of those films that can't please everyone and doesn't try to.