Conference bookie::movies

239.0. "Delicatessen" by DSSDEV::RUST () Tue Jul 06 1993 17:47

    This had been recommended to me a number of times - for some reason,
    people seem to think I'd like just any old cannibalism movie - and I
    finally got 'round to it a few weeks ago. It's a very odd flick, dark
    and surreal ["Brazil"-like in places], sometimes funny, often grotesque
    (in fact, I think "grotesque" is perhaps the best summary description).
    It's set in a very shabby boardinghouse in a decrepit neighborhood in a
    turbulent and troubled country, where there's lots of labor unrest,
    political upheavals, black market activity, and so forth -
    near-anarchy, with people trying to cope as best they can.
    
    But the people are a teensy bit weirded out by all this. Some of the
    scenes are mind-boggling. The chap who lived in the dankest apartment,
    where it leaked nearly all the time, made the most of it by raising
    frogs and snails; he'd coo lovingly to the snails and then eat them,
    tossing the shells onto a rapidly growing pile in the middle of the
    floor, as festoons of live snails crept up the walls... And then there
    was the prim-looking woman who spent all her time trying to kill
    herself via various contraptions set up to be triggered by someone
    opening the door, or a candle burning down, etc. (These bits are among
    the high points of the film for me; they get more and more elaborate,
    and the things that go wrong - well, it's slapstick in slow-motion.)
    
    And, yes, there's cannibalism, but it's all very low-key. The landlord,
    who's also a butcher, simply designates someone as the cut of the
    month, selecting strangers who've come in answer to odd-job ads, or
    occasionally choosing a resident who's behind on the rent.
    
    The currency of choice seems to be legumes; dried lentils, peas, and so
    forth. And there's an underground (literally) movement of militant
    vegetarians. And then this guy who used to be a circus clown moves in
    to the building, and falls for the landlord's daughter - but wait! He's
    supposed to be this month's prime cut! She must find a way to save
    him - but dare she???
    
    To be honest, the young couple didn't really interest me that much,
    though some of the shenanigans at the end were fairly amusing. I did
    enjoy the setup, the really grungy sets (makes "Batman"s Gotham City
    look like Howard's End), the various bits of grotesque-camp... But
    there were long stretches where I was just waiting for something to
    develop. In short, an oddity. [Not much in the way of explicit sex or
    violence, by the by, just weirdness.]
    
    -b

    I thought it was a depressing, visually ugly and very weird movie, and
    sometimes, I agree, I was just waiting for something to happen.  I
    did like the ending, though.   It seemed sort've uplifting.
    
    Lorna
    

Saw this last w/e and enjoyed it.  I saw a lot more 
comical aspects to it than depressing/dark ones.  I 
was in tears laughing during the "sex" scene.  There 
was also a lot of pretty good camera work in this film,
like the scenes with the "Australian"(sp?)

8 out of 10
-steve

BTW, the way they did the opening credits was really neat!