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DELICATESSEN (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1991) marks the feature film debut of the very imaginative French filmmaking duo of Jeunet and Caro. Jeunet’s latest film, Amélie, has just been nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar (and looks to be a shoo-in). He and Caro made a short film together a decade earlier, in 1981, but then split up, each working on music videos, commercials and other shorts. Delicatessen showcases their macabre worldview and love of physical comedy. Set in a post-apocalyptic universe, it stars elastic-faced Dominique Pinon as a former circus clown who takes a position as a butcher’s assistant in a run-down shop. He soon discovers that the meat for sale is of the Soylent Green variety, and must protect his own life. There are a couple of brilliant comedic set pieces that rely not on dialogue but sounds — rusty bedsprings, a creaking rocking chair — which build to hilarious climaxes that would make Buster Keaton blush. Delicatessen screens with their only other collaboration, the eccentric but less successful The City Of Lost Children. (February 21-22, Bloor) NNNN
