Disc Reviews

Delicatessen Blu-ray Review

• 30th Nov 2023

French cinema would not be the same without the likes of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. They only co-directed two features together (this being the first) and the global attention from critics and then fans alike was phenomenal.

Highly stylized and dipped in a heavy sauce of French attire and humour – Delicatessen tells a fantastical tale of a dark future where mankind is starved of the freedoms we take for granted today. Set in a falling apart apartment block above a butcher shop, we follow the quirky characters about their daily business and slowly unearth the dark secrets that lay within.

The film is simply gorgeous to look at. Jeunet and Caro have built a lived in world with grease, and steam and sweat. The nightmarish meets the fantastical in a series of expertly crafted sets, disgustingly strange looking characters and yet filtered through cheeky and often black comedic set ups.

Studio Canal have given Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s spectacularly black comedy fantasy the high-definition treatment.

The films were made with a lot of grain on the screen. There is often colour manipulation, smoke and harsh yellow lighting in the film to give it the feel they are going for and it looks like art. The 4K picks up on surfaces quite well.  Darker shadowy and smoky shots are a little less clear in places, but for the most part look stunning.

Bonus Material

All the extras are largely in French with English subtitles including the Audio commentary with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Making of: Fine Cooked Pork Meats – This 13-minute piece is video footage from on-set material looking at the making of the film.
Main Course Pieces (named Main Dishes when you play it) – over an hour of cast and crew talking about the making of the film. Pretty much everyone is excited to talk about the film, what was accomplished and how it made a stamp on French and foreign art cinema. There is the occasional English-speaking voice, but is largely subtitled.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Archive
Interview with Jeunet and Caro – a 25-minute discussion with both directors. This is fairly recent and worth watching as both directors sit together and discuss their work.

Steven Hurst