in the late 70 and french director jean pierre jeunet and designer marc caro meet and find they share a lot of interest in the visual art and their friendship soon become an artistic team that would spend the whole 80 make short film where the duo be able to explore and master the cinema language and perfect their storytelling ability and visual design skill and prepare themselves to make a career in film making . their effort be crown in 1991 and when they be finally able to take their craft to a full feature length film and in the project that would become their breakthrough in the film industry and the proper beginning of their career a filmmaker represent the post apocalyptic comedy delicatessen . the world of delicatessen be a dark bleak france where there be apparently no law and food be incredibly sparse ( and be now use a currency ) . in this post apocalyptic world and the resident of an apartment building in the middle of nowhere have find a solution to the hunger thanks to their landlord and the butcher clapet ( jean claude dreyfus ) and who from time to time kill the building handyman to fee the bizarre group of tenant . one day and former clown louison ( dominique pinon ) arrive to the building and get the handyman position and but unfortunately for clapet and the other tenant and the butcher daughter julie ( marie laure dougnac ) have fall in love with louison and and will do whatever be necessary to stop the madness of the delicatessen . write by gilles adrien ( who also write many of the previous jeunet and caro short ) as well a jeunet and caro themselves and delicatessen be a wonderfully imaginative tale of sweet romance and hilarious black comedy that give an unexpected light hearted twist to a plot that most writer would treat a a serious subject matter . and surprisingly it work and a while the story be anything but complex and the assortment of strange ( yet very human ) character that populate the world of delicatessen truly become the movie soul . and not only the main character and a every single one of them ( no matter how small the role be ) be highly detailed and serve a specific function a if the whole building be one of the odd machine that still work in this post apocalyptic portrait of france . visually and the film be simply sublime . since the director decide to divide responsibility and marc caro take full control of the production design and the artistic element of the movie and so with this freedom caro inventive artistic vision reach new height create a movie that could be describe a a move canvas . highly atmospheric and the french duo take the cinematography ( by darius khondji ) to the next level mix technique and show a whole range of influence that go from german expressionism to 40 modernism and result in one of the most beautiful look movie ever do . still and the movie be more than a visual fest and a jeunet ( in charge of guide the actor ) show a complete domain over his cast and crew keep the many element of the film work nicely in the right place . a write above and the character be the film soul and and the ensemble of actor play them really make a terrific job in the film . dominique pinon ( who would become one of jeunet regular collaborator ) deliver a subtle and charming performance a the ex clown louison . he be very believable in the role and and give the character a very human touch and essential for the kind of character he be play . the same can be say of marie laure dougnac and who play louison love interest and julie and one of the more normal character in the movie . jean claude dreyfus a clapet the butcher be simply delightful a the story villian and and basically every member of the cast deliver an unforgettable performance no matter how long or short be their screen time ( silvie laguna for example and be really wonderful ) . delicatessen be a solid debut by this two skillful french artist and and it already show why the two quickly become an important team in the french fantasy cinema . their very own brand of surrealist fantasy flow freely through the film make a unique visual fest ( although it definitely go a bit over the top at time ) and and while it doesn not reach the artistic level of their follow up ( the 1995 classic la cité de enfants perdus ) and it still a nicely do movie that most importantly and never get boring or tiresome . unlike their late film and delicatessen may not be for everyone and a it mix of black comedy and surreal fantasy may seem at time too close to absurd to be enjoyable . however and those with a taste for the bizarre will find a great movie in this french comedy . while delicatessen still show the excess of the young and raw talent of jeunet and caro and it not hard to see why they become know worldwide after this initial success and a this movie show the enormous potential of their skill a filmmaker . this brilliant mixture of genre be definitely a very recommended movie and and like la cité de enfants perdus ( city of the lost child ) and an essential film of the 90 . positive .