Delicatessen Marc Caro Jean-Pierre Jeunet Delicatessen DVD Delicatessen Marc Caro Jean-Pierre Jeunet Delicatessen DVD

Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
France 1991

In a post-apocalyptic society where food is so rare it's invaluable and used as currency and people eat each other a young clown applies for a job at a local delicatessen. The butcher's intent is to have him work for a little and then serve him to his stranger than normal tenants who pay him in, of course, grain. This clown falls in love with the butcher's daughter who tries to foil her father's plans by contacting the rebels. The rebels are possibly the most sensible of the lot, as they see food as food and not money.

***

The near future: taking a job and a bedsit at a shabby rooming-house above a butcher's shop, ex-clown Louison (Pinon) falls for the butcher's daughter. But her father, unhappy about the blossoming romance, deals in human flesh: will Louison fall victim, or will the Troglodistes, an underground group of vegetarian fanatics, come to his rescue? On to this slim story, writer-directors Jeunet and Caro pile a wealth of delicious comic detail. Each grotesquely larger-than-life inhabitant of the scrofulous tenement has his own little story; visually, the film evokes Gilliam, Lynch, the Coens and Carné, but the allusions never get in the way of the nightmarish humour. The sets, special effects, photography, pace and performances all contribute to the brash comic-strip vivacity, and even the fairytale romance avoids sentimentality. Increasingly inventive as it progresses, Jeunet and Caro's fast, funny feature debut entertains from sinister start to frantic finish.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

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Theatrical Release: April 17th, 1991

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DVD Comparison:

Miramax - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Momentum Pictures - Region 2 - PAL

Thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Momentum screen caps!

(Miramax - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Momentum Pictures - Region 2 - PAL RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover		same as the 1 disc Studio Canal: and the German Kinowelt:
Distribution	Miramax - Region 1 - NTSC	Momentum Pictures Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:39:30	1:35:03 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.24 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.71 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Miramax
Bitrate:
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), DUB: German, Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Miramax Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by: Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet • "Fine Cooked Meats: A nod to Delicatessen" featurette • The Archives of Jean-Pierre Jeunet • Theatrical trailer • Delicatessen teasers DVD Release Date: May 2nd, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 18	Release Information: Studio: Momentum Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by: Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet • Fine Slices from Diane Bertrand featurette (13:32) • The Archives of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (8:38) • Theatrical trailer • Delicatessen teasers DVD Release Date: April 15, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 15

Comments:

ADDITION: Momentum (R2UK)

NOTE: The French 1-disc Studio Canal DVD and German Kinowelt DVD are the exact same versions as U.K. Momentum Pictures edition.

The PAL image is weaker with boosting (both brightness and black levels), hence the colors are unbalanced. The new NTSC edition is sharper and more consistent. There may be a bit of cropping on the top and bottom edges of the PAL edition(s), and sides of the Miramax, but nothing to get our feathers ruffled over. It appears that the extras are the same (even the commentary). I prefer the PAL subs and menus but all else goes to the Miramax. The only question is why it took so long to surface in Region 1?

****

Not unlike Jean-Pierre Jeunet's later success Amélie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain), Delicatessen has a very yellow/golden hue to it that has been represented well in the new Miramax DVD. The anamorphic 1.85 image looks quite good. Unfortunately the subtitles are yellow and quite high on the screen. Good news is that this Miramax release has all the extras from the PAL region 2 edition. The commentary (subbed in English) is a decent one adding some good production flavor. There is a featurette and some filler and overall this is a good release - if we can we will compare to the PAL edition soon, but as it stands viewers will be quite happy with this NTSC release.

The film is quite inventive - reminding very much of Terry Gilliam's work. A true dark comedy that is fun and very much worth the ride.

Gary W. Tooze

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(Miramax - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Momentum Pictures - Region 2 - PAL RIGHT)

Subtitle Sample