The Movie
The works of Charlie Kaufman aside, movies that are truly bizarre yet truly entertaining are difficult to find, so much so that we need to import them. Witness the French Delicatessen, which paints a bleak future (guessing here, they're not specific on the timeframe) when things have gotten so bad that food has become currency, and people will do just about anything to secure theirs.
A landlord-cum-butcher is happy with his Sweeney Todd-like existence, willing to hire eager laborers to help out around his decaying building, provided they have the requisite meat on their bones. An out-of-work clown is next on the menu, until the butcher's daughter goes sweet on him. She arranges for the reviled, underground-dwelling troglodytes ("the other side" in the war that brought mankind to this point? I dunno) to kidnap him for his own protection.
All of these events unfold with a singular comedic voice, all the more impressive since it was directed by two cinematic artisans, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It is a delicious confection born of imaginative sight gags captured with a distinctive visual style.
The Picture
The world of Delicatessen is a foggy one, and the mists enveloping the scenes make for an extremely noisy 1.85:1 image. Shadows and the interesting textures and patterns show their share of noise as well, and the blacks are usually flat and lifeless. The palette at least is curiously distinctive, but overall the video quality here is not so good.
The Sound
The movie is presented in simple stereo, but the mix is so well-crafted that it almost seems to extend far beyond the two main speakers at times. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track offers solid side-to-side directionality at least. Dynamic range is impressive too, with cleanly sustained trebles when someone plays a saw as a musical instrument or sharpens a knife. There's no discrete low end but adequate oomph when needed.
The Extras
Diane Bertrand's 1991 TV special "Fine Cooked Meats: A Nod to Jeunet and Caro's Feature Film Delicatessen" is really just a 13-and-a-half-minute series of on-the-set video clips, in standard definition. By contrast, "Main Course Pieces" is a brand-new, in-depth making-of, in French and English (65 minutes, HD). The audio commentary by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is in French, with available subtitles. And "Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Archives" collects nine minutes of screen tests and rehearsals and other priceless vintage video, in standard definition.
Final Thoughts
Like Jeunet's Amelie, Delicatessen is such a tremendous joy to watch that it should at least be rented. The video for such a keenly orchestrated/executed work of art should have been stronger, frankly, but the audio actually exceeded my expectations for the original two-channel soundtrack. All in all, a tasty treat.
Product Details
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