DELICATESSEN (1991)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 99 Minutes 54 Seconds
Audio: French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro
Cast: Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Howard Vernon
Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's fantastical apocalypse comedy Delicatessen (1991) is a film that looms large in by cinematic mind. I first saw it in early 90's while living in Ithaca, NY at the local subterranean arthouse cinema, the Cinemapolis on the Ithaca Commons. I was not quite yet in my twenties at the time, I had just graduated, and was coming off a decade of VHS-fueled 80's horror devotion, when I started frequenting the arthouse cinema, and those frequent trips to Cinemopolis birthed my love of arthouse and foreign cinema, forever expanding and broadening my taste in cinema. My new found interest in arthouse and foreign films was fed all that year by both the aforementioned Cinemapolis and another fine indie house Fall Creek Pictures, the latter of which had some super comfy chairs and bean bags on the floor so you could actually sit in front of the screen on a bean bag, which was cool. These purveyors of arthouse not only introduced me Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's apocalyptic cannibal-comedy Delicatessen (1991), but myriad others, other Jaco Van Dormael's Toto Le Heros (1991), Gabriele Salvatores' Mediterraneo, Pedro Almodóvar's High Heels (1991), Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Alfonso Arau's Like Water For Chocolate (1992), Krzysztof Kieslokowski's The Double Life of Veronique (1991) and Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (1991), the last of which 30 years later still has no North American home video release - still waiting on the Criterion announcement for that last one.
While all of those film had impact on me it was Delicatessen that had more impact on me than any those other films. I remember seeing the trailer which is really just a clip of a delightfully syncopated scene straight from the film, and made a mental note to go see it. I did just that, and I was rather stunned by this weird French post-apocalyptic cannibal comedy, It's fantastical design elements the oddball characters, the quirky streak of black humor, it all just pulled me right into it's fantastical world.
The dystopian fable centers around a seemingly lone standing apartment house in a post-apocalyptic France owned by Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus, The City of Lost Children) who also owns the butcher shop on the main floor. Apparently meat is scare and the opening scenes sets up what's to follow, with Clapet murdering the buildings handyman who has wrapped himself in garbage in an attempt to smuggle himself out if the building in a trash bin. The rouse does not work however, and the butcher has at him with his butcher's knife. The other inhabitants of the house are privy to this cannibalism and get there share of the meat if they can afford it, and those who are running behind on rent are reminded by Clapet to pay-up or become part of the menu. In need of a new handyman and future lunch-meat, the butcher places an add in the newspaper, and a former circus performer Louison (Dominique Pinon, Amelie) arrives answering the ad and gets the job, unaware of what his fate will mst likely be. However, while proving to be quite handy Clapet keeps him around longer than usual to fix the place up, all the while charming several of the tenants with his pleasant way, including Clapet's daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) who bonds with him over their love of music, she playing the cello, he playing the musical saw. It's a sweet love developing between, and she pleads with her father to spare him, but the tenants want meat back on the menu.
The other tenant include the building's love pump as Mademoiselle Plusse (Karin Viard) who pays her rent on her back, and the always suicidal
Audio/Video: now restored in 4K from the original camera negative by StudioCanal under the supervision of Jeunet, with an incredible 6 hours of new and archival Special Features curated exclusively for this edition.
This release is also available as a 3-disc Limited Edition set directly from Severin, featuring a bonus third disc and packaging extras listed below, that can be purchased HERE:
- Main Course Pieces – A Retrospective (65:19)
- Take Your Pig – Interview With Actor Jean-Claude Dreyfus
- Archival Interviews With Cast, Crew And Critics
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet Archives (8:44)
- LE BUNKER DE LA DERNIÈRE RAFALE – Short Film By Jean-Pierre Jeunet And Marc Caro
- Exclusive Booklet By Claire Donner Of The Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies
- Webstore Exclusive Slipcover
I will say that if you own the 2010 Lionsgate Blu-ray it des have both the Main Course Pieces – A Retrospective and the
-Jean-Pierre Jeunet Archives featurette, so hang onto it if you did not get the 3-disc LE version from Severin.
Special Features:
Disc 1: 4K Ultra HD
- Audio Commentary With Co-Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Trailer
Disc 2: Blu-ray
- Audio Commentary With Co-Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Interview With Co-Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet And Marc Caro (26:09)
- Fine Cooked Meats – The Making Of DELICATESSEN (14:05)
- Copains Comme Cochons – Interview With Co-Director Marc Caro (41:52)
- The Tale Of 'Terry Gilliam Presents DELICATESSEN' – Interview With Terry Gilliam (17:32)
- Trailer (2:17)
Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-ray:
Screenshot Comparison:
Top: Lionsgate Blu-ray (2010)
Bottom: Severin Blu-ray (2025)
Buy it!
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