Cannibalism In Delicatessen

Delicatessen is set in a post apocalyptic world that is suffering from a severe famine consisting of dark comedy through a number of themes, creative tones and music. Written and directed by Marco Caro and Jean-Pierre Jennet, they have created a storyline revolving around love, cannibalism vs vegetarianism and how evil can become prevalent in times of hardship.

The film takes place around an apartment complex above a delicatessen, owned by a hardy butcher who displays his power status over tenants, through aggressive confrontations and their over reliance on him to provide them with miscellaneous meats. Tenants pay for their rent and these meats through bags of corn, which act as a currency. A new tenant named Louison arrives in hopes of securing a job in the complex, but little does he know that he’s on …show more content…
Above ground, they are referred to as ‘outlaws’ because they are seen to be ‘stealing’ food away from the starving people struggling to survive where as they see it as the protection and saving of one’s life, whether it be a human or animal. They refer to each other in veggie code words such as ‘sauce master’ and ‘onions’ whereas the butcher can be seen calling tenants ‘meat head’s’. Another clear example of their opposite outlooks.Within this stylised theme of cannibalism vs vegetarianism, Caro and Jennet still produce a funny and ironic outlook on scenes, an example being when one of the ‘trogolos’ gets stuck in a ventilator shaft in the apartment and shouts to his fellow comrades to tell them that he is stuck, stating ‘ I've gotten too fat’ which instantly creates the ‘outlaws’ to burst into laughter. The thought of a fat person during a famine is hard to imagine but the thought of a fat vegetarian who lives off grains during a famine is made