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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Delicatessen

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-fi
Written by:
Gilles Adrien
Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Directed by:
Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 3, 1992
DVD: January 29, 2003
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Pascal Benezech, Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, and Karin Viard
In a post-apocalyptic society where meat is scarce, cannibalism is no longer unsavory. And when a young ex-clown takes a job in a dilapidated deli, he's completely unaware that the butcher plans to serve him to the building's bizarre tenants. But when the butcher's nearsighted daughter falls for the clown, she'll go to absurd lengths to foil her father's plan. (Miramax)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: A Very Long Engagement (Jeunet) Alien Resurrection (Jeunet) Amelie (Jeunet) The City of Lost Children
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Salon.com Jenn Shreve
I didn't need to understand every word to see what a beautiful film this was - each camera shot a carefully composed masterpiece that immerses the viewer in a realm of luxuriant imagination.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Delicatessen is an ingeniously funny film with a surprisingly sweet romance at its center.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Beautifully textured, cleverly scripted and eerily shot (often with a wideangle lens making characters look even weirder), Delicatessan is a zany little film that's a startling and clever debut for co-helmers Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
The slapstick is classic-level stuff, the kind of domino-effect precision that is lost in most of today's clumsy farces.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Set in some sort of post-apocalyptic Parisian deli o' the damned, this lunatic's take on the future of man is so delightfully warped that it's impossible to shake it out of your head and go get a decent night's sleep.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
What keeps the film going, and helps it keep its comic tone, is the constant threat of cataclysm - and the deadpan Buster Keaton charm of the ever-responsive Pinon as he combats the giant Rube Goldberg meat-grinder that the house, in effect, is. [17 Apr 1992]
Chicago Tribune Clifford Terry
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's "Delicatessen" is an exuberantly wacky, perversely droll black comedy with an ample dose of gentle whimsy-"Eating Raoul" out of "Mr. Hulot's Holiday." [17 Apr 1992]
Empire Jack Yeovil
This is still a delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
Among the things that deserve mention in this lightweight but sometimes subversively stylish farce are its ingenious credit sequence, its lively editing by Herve Schneid, its use of code names like Artichoke Heart and Cordon Bleu in the guerrilla war that rages underground and its reference to a couple of odd inventions.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Michael Wilmington
The film itself is playful, weird, unpredictable and a bit tasteless. [10 Apr 1992]
Village Voice J. Hoberman
Delicatessen may be junk food, but it's served with the discretion of nouvelle cuisine. [07 Apr 1992]
USA Today Mike Clark
co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro know their craft; of the films here, only Othello has a more trenchant visual style. [30 Apr 1992]
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A smirky cleverness infects much of the picture, yet some scenes are so skillfully created that it's hard not to admire them, and Dominique Pinon's sensitive performance as a retired circus man gives the movie a soul. [10 Apr 1992]
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott
Delicatessen is a carniverous sausage - lots of fat, a few meaty bits. [10 Apr 1992]
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Delicatessen seems overstuffed at times, unable to digest its own surfeit of jokes, tricks, and surprises.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
There are no characters to care about or remember afterward - just a lot of flashy technique involving decor, some glib allegorical flourishes, and the obligatory studied film-school weirdness.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
A punky, futuristic effort by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, it is a tasteless variation on "Sweeney Todd" set geographically near the border of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Cal gave it a10:
Brilliant film – it's got all the delicate charm that Jeunet injects into his work mixed with a macabre undercurrent that keeps it fresh. A well-crafted black comedy, and a modern classic in my view; but it's definitely not for everyone.
Bill S. gave it a9:
A French circus gone bonkers. Surreal love story.
Jen A. gave it a1:
One of the worst movies I have EVER seen - from stale acting, far-fetched plot lines and poor dialogue, it's a disaster from start to end. I don't know how I reached the end of the movie, possibly it was from sheer curiosity to see if the whole thing could really be that bad. But, on a different note, it perhaps may be considered a good watch for entertainment value?
