French Films

Before there was Amelie is all her rose-coloured glory there was two wonderful french films by the same film makers. Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. Jean-Pierre Jeunet has an incredible eye for detail and delights in the worlds he constructs (while they may give some viewers nightmares). He can only be liken to Wes Anderson in terms of his utter commitment to creating a whole, filmic world; with a 360 degree scope of vision.

Delicatessen is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which there is short supply of meat and yet, the owner of an apartment building is able to invite his tenants for lavish dinners. So, just what is the meat they are eating? And why are people going missing?

The City of Lost Children has an equally dark outlook, with a disembodied brain requiring the nightmares of children to keep it alive. As children go missing a gentle giant (Ron Perlman) takes care of a group of street urchins who are at risk from the brain and his mad brother.
While these films sound ghoulish they have a surprising amount of charm and sentimentality to them; they show where Jeunet has been before he alighted on Amelie.
If you are interested, both films are showing at the Astor Theatre in Melbourne on 15th May