Delicatessen

The post apocalypse is something that you can do a lot with in film. It can be comedic, horrifying, or dramatic. Today's subject also deals with life after the end of the world in it's own way. A French film that deals with its home country during a time that's far from the beautiful and culturally rich country it once was and a place where resources are scarce. A film basted in dark humor, bursting with unique character, and filled with lighthearted comedy that follows the inhabitants of a small apartment building trying to survive their landlord and the world around them.

So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the emotions and impact they convey then grab a glass of you preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that’s a bottle Black Forest from our friends at the Saranac Brewery, close to my hometown in upstate New York. So sit back, relax and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

The initial moment of our subject today sets the mood and the world we are are stepping into for the next hour and a half. We see a building seemingly split and hollowed out, a shell of its former self shrouded in a orange yellow fog. It's raining hard outside as the camera pans to reveal a perfectly intact and brightly lit brick building on an industrial looking street. On the door is the word Delicatessen as the sound of a knife being sharpened greets our ears. We have arrived at the setting of our film as a garbage truck pulls up front. We move into the building and see a man wearing an apron sharpening a large shiny meat cleaver. The delicatessen and attached apartment building are run by the resident butcher named Clapet. He is a brash and rough character who rules with a sharp cleaver while supplying the tenants with fresh meat...meat from unlucky inhabitants. Delicatessen is a darkly comedic film and the initial release of a unique voice in modern French cinema.

Delicatessen is a film that finds us in France where the main currency are seeds and raw beans. We never learn why the world is in its current state, but we do know that cannibalism is practiced, including within the building. We also learn through a conversation involving Clapet that the rest of the world is much more savage than the delicatessen stating "You wouldn't survive out there, at least we draw straws." The butcher is in charge of drawing in new tenants and supplying food for his tenants.

One day we see a man pushing a car to the deli's front door. His name is Louison, played by Dominique Pinon and he has arrived thanks to a newspaper ad for a position as a maintenance worker with free room and board. The room has recently become vacant within Clapet's building and our hero hopes to get a free room in exchange for work. To measure his worth Louison is asked a series of questions, but none of them seem to be about skills. Among the interview questions are how much do you weigh along with comments about a lack of meat on his bones. Despite the initial doubt Clapet does offer the job to the visitor and leads him up to his room where we meet a number of tenants on the way who include an interesting group of characters.

The characters, humor, and atmosphere in Delicatessen are lighthearted and multi-faceted, which if you are familiar with the film's director you'll know that s nothing new. Directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet the film has a lot of his trademark qualities that you'll see in his other films, which also include his use of color. The whole aesthetic of Delicatessen is really interesting. The colors are really fantastic. They almost have a vintage type of tone to them that makes the film just a little warmer than it might feel otherwise.

If you don't recognize Jeunet by name you may recognize some of his other works including The Young and Prodigious T.S. Pivet, Micmacs, and The City of Lost Children. Arguably his most famous film however is Amelie, a film about an innocent young woman who goes out of her way to help those around her. He has a style that I really love and one of his muses is the lead of Delicatessen, Dominique Pinon.

There are those performers where when you hear a director's name you picture an actor or actress immediately. I’m sure you are in the same boat with directors whose films you enjoy. Whether that's Toshiro Mifune with Kurosawa, John Wayne with Ford, Matti Pellonoaa with Kaurismaki. or Robert De Niro and Scorcese. Pignon is like that for me with Jeunet. I always associate them together because they seem to always team up. Whether Pinon is in a lead, supporting, or small role he seems to always makes an appearance.

I always love seeing Dominique appear on screen. I love the energy he brings to the characters he plays and I always enjoy his performances. It’s like seeing an old friend appear, it’s always good to see him. I think he’s fantastic in every role he has in Jeunet’s films and his role as Louison in Delicatessen is no different. He’s on a short list of actors who I’d like to meet and have a chat and beverage with. Anyway, I just wanted to share my thoughts and share some praise for a second, now back to Delicatessen.

As stated earlier this film takes place almost entirely in and around the apartments building above the delicatessen. We meet all the tenants, all of which are interesting in their own way. There are two friends who make cow sound cylinders, a woman who hears voices through her pipes, a man who lives in a room made purposefully wet so he can house frogs and eat snails, and a few other colorful characters.

As the new maintenance man Louison is tasked with fixing up the place. Despite his friendly and good hearted nature we learn that one of his friends Dr. Livingstone was previously killed and he has been on his own since. He's a man that despite this darkness never lets on that there is anything wrong. On one occasion he is repairing a light in the stairwellwhen he bumps into a lovely woman named Julie, played by Marie-Luare Dougnac. She is the butcher’s daughter and also lives in the apartment building. Attracted to each other from the start they form a friendship and Julie invites him to have tea and biscuits at her place later that day.

As Julie develops feelings for the new hired hand her father gets resentful and somewhat jealous as Julie barely speaks to him anymore. Her interest in Louison has also put a wrench in her father's original intentions of killing him for meat, but soon as his resentment grows so does his care for Julie's feelings as he resumes his original plan. Julie must protect Louison from her father while also not alarming him to the danger he is in. Despite that description I promise you that it is not horrific in really any regard. In fact it is more comedy than anything else...as long as you don't mind the darker side of humor.

I could name a lot of scenes that I love in this film, but will only talk about a few. There are two moments that somewhat relate to each other. There's one scene in the stairwell where Louison is fixing something and notices two children sitting on a step smoking a cigarette. He gets down from his stool and takes the cigarette and gestures a no no to them while putting it out. Hoping to divert their attention he takes a bucket of soap water and some tools he has kept from his clown performing days and starts making bubbles. Not just any bubbles though, huge, waving bubbles. The children watch infatuated as he waves his wand an bubbles appear. Another scene that shows his prior life involves the children again. They steal a Mademoiselle Plusse's underwear and throw it outside where it hangs off a lampshade. Louison cooly says, "This is a job for the Australian." He takes out a three pronged tool and throws it as it cuts the undergarments and boomerangs back where he hands them to her. I enjoy seeing the bits of playfulness of the old world leak through scenes like this.

Music plays a role in today's subject from the highly creative and fun opening credits all the way through to the closing credits. Whether it's the man who blasts classical music while pretending to be a frog or a portion of one of my favorite scenes. It's a sequence that sees Julie preparing for Louison's arrival to her apartment for their date. We join Julie in her apartment after she has set the table for two. Deciding that she look better without glasses she takes them off without contacts. She counts her stepos from the door to the table, plans how she'll have him sit, and how she'll serve tea until there's a knock on the door. The scene involves a lot of great moments that are funny and cute, but my favorite part is when Louison spots her cello in the corner of the room. Looking at Julie he inquires, “Do you play the cello?” Smiling she answers, “Yes”. Smiling back Louison announces. “I also play an instrument. I’ll be right back”. Next we see Julie sitting down with her cello in playing position when Louison returns through the door. After closing the door behind him he turns to her to reveal the instrument behind his back...a singing saw. Sitting down Louison sounds a note to which Julie answers. This happens again and Louison asks, "Do you know that song?" To which Julie responds, "Yes". "Louison smiles and says, "It was his favorite." They start from the top and what unfurls from those first few notes is a wonderful melody that is uniquely Delicatessen.

I love this scene for a variety of reasons. It has a lot of playfulness and I love the smitten energy and jitters between the two, which are accompanied by the funny antics. The appearance of the singing saw is a delight for me as well. It’s an instrument that doesn’t get a lot of play, but is so powerful and unique. My only experience with one outside of Delicatessen was when one of my good friends, Jeremiah and I saw Neutral Milk Hotel perform live in Buffalo together. They played in a church converted into a music venue and one of the band members played a saw in a few songs. It was one of those life changing shows and hearing and seeing the saw played was a great experience. I had seen and heard it on Delicatessen previous to that concert, but connecting both together was amazing. Anyway, all that to say that the singing saw is super cool and I absolutely adore this sequence in Delicatessen.

Another favorite scene of mine in this film also involves music. It begins when Louison, toolbox in hand knocks on a door, which is answered by the voice of Clapet's girlfriend, Mademoiselle Plusse, played by Karin Viard welcoming him in. We hear Hawaiian music and see a band playing on the black and white television. The song playing is "Dreams of Old Hawaii" by Lani McIntyre and his Aloha Islanders as we see Louison's legs protruding from underneath the bed. He is there to fix a squeaky spring and has laid down underneath the bed to inspect the springs of the mattress. Folding clothes she asks her to bounce on the bed. After she sits she begins to bounce to try and make the spring announce itself. Not hearing anything she tells him that there are usually two people on the bed when it happens. Crawling out he smiles and sits down next to her. As they sit next to each other they begin to bounce in unison. The sound of the music grows and with the messy apartment in the background. As we see them bouncing to the changing beat of the song it's nothing short of smile inducing. Throughout the song their bouncing changes pace, their bodies change angles, and the spring changes pitch as they continually bounce to pinpoint the squeaky spring. I always find my smile grow larger as the scene unfurls and am always giggling by the end of it. There is another scene regarding a similar situation that I find even more funny, but I’ll leave that for you to discover on your own.

I adore Delicatessen and feel that it is well worth the hour and a half that you'll invest tuning into witness it. I always come away from it happy and content and in a positive mood. I can't help but love the experience that it provides and hope that you enjoy it too.

If you'd like to watch Delicatessen for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find Delicatessen on Prime Video. You can watch the film included with Prime, so no extra purchase is required if you are a prime member.

You can also find it on services like YouTube, GooglePlay, Apple TV and Vudu for $3.99 to rent.

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