Delicatessen!

Like any normal college kid, I devoted my entire weekend to studying with breaks to: 1) run errands 2) watch Young Frankenstein which is, admittedly, still homework since I'm watching it for class 3) watch SNL (I'm not a cave person. I know how this works. If you don't watch it in the first 12 hours, someone's gonna spoil it for ya.) 4) Church. (who plays "Tis Finished, the Messiah Dies" in January?)

But tonight was special. I FINISHED my weekend reading. And I celebrated by watching a French film called...Delicatessen. (What a nerd, right? I used English subtitles, but still. I learned some stuff from it. My yearning to learn will not be ignored!)

Warning: it's a film review, so spoilers are a given.


Mmm. A deli. Sounds tasty, right?

It's only tasty if you thought "Man, that sounds good!" when you watched Sweeney Todd.

For some reason, in alternate France, there is no food, so people resort to killing one another for meat. I didn't quite figure out why there wasn't any food...maybe that was explained in the few seconds where I ran to the window to see why there was a lot of honking going on outside. (No reason. I'm blaming Texas road rage for that racket.) In most places, people get together and draw straws to see who gets the ax. But the tenants above the delicatessen have a better solution. The butcher advertises for a person to do odd jobs. After this person arrives, they kill him and eat him.

But of course, this time the butcher's daughter falls for the odd jobs man. (You may recognize him as the creepy failed writer from Amelie.)

I really liked this movie. Usually when I watch something, I get bored and pause it so I can get on pinterest for a bit. But this was excellent.

Why did I like this movie?
1) There was a moment that I choose to interpret as a Doctor Who reference even though I know it isn't one.
2) It was weird that I liked it, but I loved the scene where everyone ended up doing everything (subconsciously) in the rhythm of the springs creaking.
3) This movie has one of the darkest side stories, and it's hilarious. This lady in the building is trying to commit suicide for the entire film. At the end, she attempts to asphyxiate herself, hang herself, shoot herself, poison herself, and blow herself up all at the same time, and she's still unsuccessful. It's one of those things that shouldn't be funny since it's such a serious issue...but somehow it is.
4) Louison plays the saw.
5) The scene where Julie and Louison flood the bathroom. It's so weird...it makes me want to watch more French movies to see if they're all like this, or if it's just because this movie has the same writer/director as Amelie (one of the greatest films ever made).
6) The entire movie is so absurd. I really like that.
7) The final scene. I want to play the saw on the roof.

In summation: This movie is like a better version of Sweeney Todd. The director also seems to have a Burton-esque relationship with some of his actors. Or maybe there are only 10 actors in France.