Delicatessen

The delightful dark French comedy, Delicatessen, provides an interesting twist on the notion of a ‘post-apocalyptic future’ by setting this film in the past, as an alternate reality to post WWII France. The war has left France in tatters. Animals are (apparently) extinct, there is intense food rationing, and there is a black market for human meat. The film’s focus is an apartment building run by a greedy butcher, who hires handy men, only to kill them and sell their meat. Delicatessen explores the concepts of greed, corruption, and the morality of eating meat. We see the butcher, who himself is a vegetarian, has plenty of food—several giant bags of grain and corn—hoarded in a private room. Meanwhile, we see the residents of the building contemplate how they’ll manage to get enough food to eat. Though the butcher wants for nothing, he continues to profit from the desperation of others. Despite the far-fetched plotline, this situation is not dissimilar from the current corporate mentality. Delicatessen provides a keen, witty critique of consumptive greed.