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Delicatessen



cast :

Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus

crew :

Directed by: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Written by: Gilles Adrien
Produced by: Constellation
Edited by: Herve Schneid
Music Score by: Carlos D’Alessio

release date :

1991

‘Delicatessen’ (1991) combines horror conventions, such as murder and cannibalism, and cartoon humour (both directors have backgrounds in animated shorts, pop videos and commercials) in the creation of a slapstick gothic film. Set in a post-apocalyptic era where there is no obvious time period, Jeunet and Caro create a world that is both grotesque and comic in its appearance and themes. The synopsis is as follows; a young drifter named Louison (Dominique Pinon), arrives in a middle-of-nowhere town seeking work and lodging, and is given a place to stay above a local butcher's shop in exchange for his services as a handyman. This surrealistic world is a meatless and cannibalistic one, and 'real' food is a highly expensive commodity that is used as currency for grain. The local inhabitants of the town in which Louison visits all have a 'secret' agreement in which the Butcher supplies them with meat in exchange for their resisting of cannibal urges towards one another. However, unbeknownst to Louison, this agreement involves the Butcher supplying his very own-hired Handyman as food! This is just one subplot however, as there are many freakish and comic-book type characters and scenarios that exist amongst the disgusting background of the delicatessen.The intention to challenge conventions and create disturbing and deformed characters is coincided with a humorous/satirical tone. Whilst the theme of the grotesque runs freely throughout the film via the use of the cannibalism and suicide reference, the combination of comic style acting and aesthetics softens the possible horror effect that such taboos could create. As Jeunet explains himself, the use of constant humour reflects “a need not to take oneself too seriously” (Ciment, Rouyer, Thirard, 1999, p.150). Whilst ‘Delicatessen’ is not defined to any particular time period, the post-holocaust scenario presented to us interestingly runs parallel to a sense of nostalgia created by the aesthetic feel of a quaint 1940’s French farmhouse. Such confusion of time and place builds a sense of paranoia, a theme felt throughout the film. The creativity within the visual sets ‘Delicatessen’ apart from Hollywood, often challenging the conventions associated with the mainstream. Distortion and irregularity become the norm within the narrative, and it is this difference to Hollywood that contributes to ‘Delicatessen’s’ very much European “feel.


The shots used by Jeunet and Caro (more so Jeunet as he took charge of the camera angles/shots) help create the distorted and disturbing feel desired for within the whole film. The use of the Dutch Angle shot portrays the characters psychological distress as the camera tilts and unnerves the conventional viewing pattern. For example, as Aurore (Silvie Laguna) sits in the bath, waiting for her lover Robert to ring the doorbell and cause her suicide machine to start, the camera captures the whole bathroom using a long shot and is set at a tilt with Aurore positioned to the left of the frame. As a result, the audience is presented with an unconventional shot appearance reflecting Aurore’s state of mind; that she is confused and mentally unwell. The Dutch angle shot can also be seen here as a means to add humour to an otherwise rather depressing and dark situation. Rather than filming the shot using a conventional angle, Jeunet and Caro tilt the camera, reconfirming that it is indeed a film we are watching, challenging the continuity style of mainstream Hollywood. Close ups are regularly used as well, for example in Julie’s (Marie-Laure Dougnac) dream sequence as she watches out the window whilst Louison is killed. The camera moves into a close up at the same time as using a Dutch angle shot. The combination of both techniques results in a rapid movement from safe and comfortable personal distance to an extremely intimate/intense and somewhat uncomfortable shot. The constant use of close up’s not only shows the “many nuances and complexities of the human face” (Phillips, 2005, p.87) but, in the case of this sequence, unnerves the audience as they are constantly offered a framed shot that does not permit them much visual of background action, so are left unaware of events unfolding behind the framed character. High angle shots help isolate characters and represent their vulnerability. In Julie’s dream sequence the high angle shot is used a number of times, for example as she listens to the pipe for voices. Her small frame and distressed state are highlighted here as the shot looks down on her, as perhaps an adult would on a child. In keeping with the cannibalism theme, the camera shots often fragment the body, capturing just feet, heads, and torsos. As Julie lies asleep in her bed, the combination of the close up shot and bright lighting focused on her face (whilst the surrounding red bed covers are seen in shadow) highlights just her head. When Louison enters Mademoiselle Plusse’s (Karin Viard) room the low angle shot captures just the bottom of their legs and feet. This presentation of the dissected body reconfirms the horrifying actions of the butcher and creates a thought within the audience of ‘anyone could be next’.


The movement of the camera helps construct the horror theme. During Julie’s dream sequence we see a shot at a low angle, peering up at Julie, placing her in the more dominant position. Then, as if like a monster erecting itself the camera grows and changes to a high angle shot, shrinking Julie’s appearance and her position within the frame. As Julie watches Louison being hung by his feet from her window the camera swoops in to a close up, revealing rather intensely her distorted facial features (the under lighting resulting in harsh shadows across her face) which appear to us even more monstrous and distressing as it is thrust upon us with the swooping camera movement. Whilst the movement does increase the horror theme and tense atmosphere, it also helps create the comic type reference, for example as the camera tracks across Aurore’s suicidal contraption we follow the line of machines all joined together in order to help in her attempted life taking. It is this steady progression of knowledge into her overly integrated suicide ‘machine’ which causes the comic effect created in this sequence as one part is revealed after another the situation becomes more and more humorous. Attention is given via the use of close up’s to the characters facial expressions which become the main animated part of the actors bodies, for example as Louison rescues Mademoiselle Plusse’s knickers using the Australian, the shot reverse shot is used allowing us to see both characters expressional faces quite clearly, whilst the foggy background controls the audience’s attention, assuring the two characters are the focal part of the scene.


The sound used by Jeunet and Caro throughout ‘Delicatessen’ helps to create a distorted, empty, and abstract world. Unconventional sharp tones, such as the rat caller, disturb and create a ‘skin crawling’ effect. Everyday sound amenities become heightened and contorted into an uncomfortable pitch, the piercing doorbell for example which Robert is instructed to ring ‘sharply’. During one section the action begins with the ringing of a Church bell which, on the third ring, becomes distorted and ‘moulds’ into a completely new sound, signalling the beginning of the dream sequence and perhaps instructing the viewer not to take the following images on face value. The sounds used within Julie’s dream are all constructed to create a disturbed reality and heighten the gothic theme, the screaming of both Louison and Dr Livingston as key examples. There is a constant use of echo which reconfirms the emptiness of the decaying world we find our characters living in. The echoing pipes become a signal to the butcher and a tool in Julie’s plight to save Louison from his impending murder. It is this ‘echoing tool’ however that also serves to create Julie’s fear for her lover’s and her own safety. As she presses herself against the pipe, desperately attempting to listen for her cannibal neighbours’ voices, her paranoia as to their plans for their next victim is made clear.


The mise-en-scene encapsulates all the main themes which run throughout ‘Delicatessen’. The dark sets, expressionistic lighting and sepia colour used create and sustain the gothic and historical feel presented to us, whilst the acting and make-up combined present the caricature effect, enhancing not only the ‘weirdness’ of the characters but also their comic roles. The use of sepia colouring offers a nostalgic presentation of the characters and the world they live in, giving a small indication into a possible time period that the film is set in. The musty brown of the stairwell, for example as Robert rings for his lover Aurore, presents of picture of historical proportions. Red proves a prominent colour throughout, for example Julie’s bed covers, Mademoiselle Plusses’ attire and Julie’s bedroom door, an obvious indication of the blood spilt regularly on their premises. This could also indicate, however, the life still breathing in what otherwise appears to be a dark and breathless world. The other surrounding colours (the murky greens and rusted greys) suggest an area of muck, grime and little life, much like a sewer where vermin is the only obvious occupant. This obvious use of red (whilst an indication for the butcher’s horrific act) can also be seen as a positive reference to those still living in this post-holocaust world.


Jeunet and Caro create an abstract world of uncertainties and deformities. Playing with the conventional methods and using extreme versions of lighting and camera shots, ‘Delicatessen’ forms a European film of different standards; one that uses satire and taboos alongside artistic and experimental formulas. The intention of a setting with no constructed time-period shows a “decaying city of the future” (Austin, 1996, p.136) aesthetically presented to us in a historical/nostalgic way. The combination of the unknown time setting and high angle shots which infantile many characters, forms the paranoia and lonely sense felt throughout the film. Whilst the taboo subject of cannibalism horrifies and unnerves, the caricature effect of the unusual looking actors and playful camera movement satirises the chilling effect. ‘Delicatessen’ shows both the humour and distortion needed in the creation of a distinctly uncertain and grotesquely absurd narrative.


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Country: France
Budget:
Length: 95mins


Bibliography
Austin, G. (1996) ‘Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction’. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Ciment, G. Rouyer, P and Thirard, P. (1999) Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Delicatessen. In J, Boorman and W, Donohue. (ed.) ‘Projections 9: French Film-makers on Film-making’. London: Faber and Faber Limited, pp.144-151.
Phillips, W H. (2005) ‘Film: An Introduction’. 3rd Edition. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.


Pub/2008


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