Delicatessen

Delicatessen (1991) is a French black comedy by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, starring Dominique Pinon.

Delicatessen is set in an unspecified time and place with a post-apocalyptic appearance. Food is in short supply: grain is used as currency and animals are scarce and extincted. The story happens around a bizarre group of neighbors living in an apartment building, over a butcher's shop, who pay the butcher a weekly rate for both food and board. However, the food they eat is in fact human flesh, as the butcher regularly murders the workers that he hires to do odd jobs.

The hero of Delicatessen is Louison, an unemployed circus clown, who is the latest part-time worker to move in. He develops a romantic relationship with the butcher's daughter, Julie, while trying to survive constant attempts on his life. He is ultimately rescued by a vegetarian underground terrorist organization who calls themselves the Troglodists.

I like to thank Gog who suggested me this movie; I found it today and have seen it some hours ago. The opening of the movie is like a complete short film. The first 5 minutes of the movie caught my eyes in many aspects especially cinematography. Such a conversationless opening thoroughly depicted the main root of the film.

The main idea which can make it Sci-fi is shortage of food. After a while I recalled Soylent Green where they made biscuits from dead human flesh. Another thing I want to mention is that whole the story at last conclude within itself. All the answers are in the closed circuit of the butcher's apartment. There are two main out-neighbor elements, the post man and the terrorists. The point about them is that they enter the story mostly at the end and they fight wit each other. The directors used them well in conjunction with other neighbors and made some comic scenes.

at last but not the least is the cinematography of the film by Darius Khondji, an Iranian cinematographer who has been in Hollywood recently. it is one of his early but perfect works.