Before Jean-Pierre Jeunet won oodles of critical acclaim for his hit, Amelie, he was best known for his collaborations with Marc Caro, with whom he made the dark and wonderful The City of Lost Children, and of course, Delicatessen – a strange hybrid of science fiction elements with trappings of black humor and cannibalism. This film has brought them many admirers, including Terry Gilliam and until now it's been strangely absent on DVD in North America (you'd have thought that it would have come out around the same time as Amelia to cash in on that's film's popularity).

The story is based around Louison (Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon who also appears in Amelie), who arrives out of nowhere one day, in a post apocalyptic world, or more specifically, a small town in France. Louison is looking for work in trade for room and board, as a former clown his skills aren't so much in demand but he is a perfectly capable laborer and while he doesn't have much money he's perfectly happy to work for what he needs. He finally finds a job as a handyman in an strange old apartment building overtop of a butcher shop, where, to his delight, he is given lodging and some food in exchange for his services by the butcher himself, a man named Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus of The City Of Lost Children).

Food is a hot commodity in this world, and used as currency. Most people live off of grain and other bland consumables and use more expensive foods like meat as barter, and because of this a lot of people are also cannibals. The butcher shop downstairs takes care of this for the tenants, but unluckily for Louison, he's next on the menu. Things get a little complicated for the butcher, who intends to serve him up to the tenants who live above him in exchange for grain, when his pretty daughter, Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac), falls in love with Louison as she knows all too well what her father and his tenants are up to. In order to save his life, she gets in touch with an underground movement made up of some eccentric vegetarian rebels who actually east food rather than covet it as a possession.

On a visual level, Delicatessen is a completely amazing film that could easily draw comparisons to the better works of Terry Gilliam with maybe some of the stranger elements of David Fincher's catalogue thrown in for good measure – but which also stands on its own as a completely unique animal. Strange architecture, oddly mutant like cast members, and bizarre and unlikely color schemes with an emphasis on organic Earth tones like green yellow and brown give the film a very original visual flair uncommon in most other films. Every frame is constructed with a detail-oriented sense of care and the compositions in this movie are absolutely perfect from start to finish. Truly one of the finest examples of just how good a film can look made within the last fifteen years, Delicatessen is such a sumptuous looking movie that it's really hard to appreciate just how pretty it all is upon first viewing and as such, it holds up well and for that reason it has quite a bit of replay value. Repeat viewings ensure that you'll pick out little details that you didn't notice the first or even second time around.

The performances in the film are similarly fantastic. Dominique Pinon is completely sympathetic and a genuinely likeable guy in the film, we're able to feel for him and understand his plight and we honestly don't want to see him end up on someone's dinner plate. We're able to invest enough in his performance that we care about him and therefore we care about the outcome of the film, especially when his romance with Julie kicks in. To that mind, Marie-Laure Dougnac is adorable in her part, she's quirky and odd but there's a sweetness to her in the movie that suits the equally goofy sweetness that Louison carries about. The true star of the cast, however, is Jean-Claude Dreyfus who is over the top pretty much throughout the film and he brings a very funny persona to the movie that works well in the setting of the story. It helps as well that Dreyfus has some of the best lines of dialogue in the film, made even more memorable by his delivery (his interaction with the "Bullshit Detector" is classic!). Look for Jess Franco/Euro-cult regular Howard Vernon, who pops up in the film in a fun supporting role.

The story is quirky and while it's very dark it keep its tongue very much in cheek while the film takes us through the beautiful and freakish world that Jeunet and Caro have created. It's a strange film of contrasts, clashing horror with love and suspense with comedy, but it's a very original work that proves to be both interesting and entertaining at the same time. It isn't particularly thought provoking, and at times it seems to be simply weird for the sake of being weird, but those with a taste for surrealist black comedy should embrace the film with open arms.

Video:

Delicatessen is presented for this region one release in a very nice 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Jeunet and Caro's unique visual style is well captured by this exceptional disc. There is the occasional instance of artifacting or grain here and there, but for the most part it's clear, colorful and just beautiful to look out. Shadow detail is strong even when there is some really mild print damage in a scene or two and aliasing, while present, isn't overpowering or too distracting at all.