4 gibbles out of 5

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro

Delicatessen was a wonder when I first saw it. This was right around the time I was getting into cool movies and, although I missed the beginning during this first viewing, the layout of the shots was simply stunning. More than fifteen years later, it retains this same sense of skill.

That Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro can put together incredibly complicated scenes with such ease is quite amazing. You have a batch of directors who tend to view things through a skewed eye, and they all love detail-control to a certain extent. However, what impresses about Jeunet’s films is the ease with which this seems to be accomplished. Also notable is how the main aspect of the plot seems to take a back seat. The cannibalism is just sort of background for this intersection of characters, and that makes the film even more charming. The only reason this gets docked a star is because there are a couple charming scenes that never quite come to fruition with the rest of the film, and there is a fight scene (on the roof) that simply isnt threatening enough to be a concern. Otherwise: amazing, fun viewing.