Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Delicacy Blu-ray Movie Review

Beauty and the Beast.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 25, 2012

Delicacy is an appropriately delicate examination of what happens when “happily ever after” suddenly takes a detour into unexpected tragedy. The winsome Audrey Tautou portrays Nathalie, a woman we initially meet in a Paris bistro as she peruses a menu and a François (Pio Marmai), a young man who is narrating the film (at least in the beginning), wonders what she’ll order. He correctly guesses apricot juice, and then we segue into a celebration of the burgeoning relationship between the two. Everything seems to be going swimmingly for the pair, who quickly marry and settle into a life of domestic bliss, a rose colored reality that is suddenly shattered when François is killed by a car while out jogging one afternoon. The opening few minutes of Delicacy are therefore a breathless trek through emotional territory that some films take their entire lengths developing. The film trades on a sort of Amélie-esque ambience (obviously no coincidence, considering Tatou’s involvement), with playful camera moves and a montage that features a series of photos from around the world (where that “roaming gnome” when you really need him?), and culminating in a little set piece when Nathalie finds herself at her young husband’s grave. Some prescient (and/or overly cynical) viewers may be wondering, “Is Delicacy going to be ‘Jean-Pierre Jeunet lite’?” But Stéphane Foenkinos, co-directing a screenplay written by his brother David (culled from his novel), who joins his brother in the directorial duties as well, tones down the tricks after this opening gambit and instead settles on the aftermath of Nathalie’s devastating loss. Will this beautiful young widow allow herself to love again? Once that question is answered, a perhaps more salient question arises: is Nathalie out of her ever loving mind?

Have you ever seen an attractive woman with a downright shlub (technical term) of a guy and wondered, “How the heck did she end up with him?” That’s pretty much the running gag in Delicacy, one that seems almost cartoonish since François, Nathalie’s doomed husband, is just this side of being a Greek God. When you’ve supped (so to speak) with Divinity, why would you settle for a mere mortal? Delicacy never really effectively answers that question, hinting that Nathalie is suffering from her own version of post traumatic stress disorder, a syndrome that has her moving through her life cut off from her own emotions, zombiefied, perhaps out of a survival mechanism. How could one face losing a husband that incredibly perfect?

And yet, there is Nathalie, moving as almost in a trance, toward Markus (François Damiens), a goofy looking coworker who would make a merely disheveled individual look like something out of a haute couture catalog by comparison with his rumpled appearance. And that’s only his clothes. If Nathalie’s deceased husband was the very model of masculine beauty, Markus is like the missing link between humans and werewolves. But Nathalie doesn’t just walk up to Markus one day—she just moves in and plants about the most erotic kiss you’ve ever seen right on the startled gentleman. And that starts Delicacy out on what is its major plot arc, as Markus is first surprised, then confused, then delighted, then unsure of Nathalie’s affection. Nathalie herself is initially dumbstruck that she did something so horribly inappropriate (she even claims not to remember having done it), but it seems that there’s a spirit moving her toward this gentle giant, and that is where Delicacy finds its heart and soul.

Delicacy is a disarmingly quiet little film that actually touches on several important topics, not the least of which is that old adage about judging a book by its cover. But it’s also a good deal deeper than might initially be thought at first glance. This is a film that is ruminative and rather nicely exploratory in ferreting out a wounded woman’s slow but steady slog out of heartbreak into a new life. It’s not the life she ever expected, and perhaps isn’t exactly the life she wants, and yet there is joy in it. That’s a rather remarkable statement for a film that really has the makings of “just another” romantic comedy. This is a nicely Gallic take on that idiom, though, replete with just a hint of nostalgic philosophizing that gives the film its own special spirit.

The film has a rather interesting structure as well, where several characters give us narration at various times. What might otherwise be a fractious experience is really rather close knit due to the sharp writing by David Foenikos, all in service of the central focus on Nathalie and her climb out of the depths. It really doesn’t matter if François, Markus or indeed Nathalie herself narrates any given segment, for the different perspectives are simply like looking at different facets of a finely cut diamond. The final narration by Markus, as he plays hide and seek with Nathalie in the garden behind her family home, is a remarkable little piece of poetry that captures this film’s very distinctive patois, a language that speaks to the heart without ever sacrificing the head.

Delicacy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Delicacy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group, Studio Canal and Entertainment One with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a very nice looking film, one that is often beautifully lit and quite redolent of the sun dappled ambience of the French countryside, strangely even in its urban setting. Judging by a cursory look at the screencaps, my hunch is this is the same transfer that was featured on the British release of Delicacy by Studio Canal which was reviewed by my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov. As Svet noted, this release boasts some very nice colors, with the outdoor photography looking especially lush. Contrast and black levels are consistent and solid and fine object detail is very pleasing, especially since the co-directors tend to favor midrange and close-ups throughout much of the film. Some of the interior footage struggles to achieve really convincing shadow detail (the main reason my score is just a little less laudatory than Svet's was), but there aren't any major compression artifacts of any concern.

Delicacy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Delicacy features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original French. (For the record, a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 French mix is also available.) This is a charming soundtrack that is aided immeasurably by a beautiful score by Emilie Simon, who contributes a number of sweet little songs, and (one assumes—the credits aren't entirely clear) a repeated use of a percussive theme that is one part childhood music box and one part gamelan orchestra. The music spills delightfully through the surrounds repeatedly in the film, and there's also some good use of ambient environmental effects which open up this somewhat claustrophobic film quite well. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and the overall mix is very well prioritized.

Delicacy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:49)


• Audrey Tautou Interview (SD; 3:08) has the actress sharing her thoughts about the pair of brothers behind the film as well as her role of Nathalie.


• Making of Featurette (SD; 24:53) has quite a bit of behind the scenes footage showing various locations being prepped for shots as well as Tautou receiving direction or interfacing with the other actors. There are also the requisite interviews with the cast and crew.

Delicacy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Delicacy may be a bit too melancholic for American audiences who want their romantic comedies to be brash, raucous and—predictable. Delicacy is rather quiet, and the laughs are similarly often interior ones rather than outright guffaws. But this film has a very appealing emotional tenor, one that subtly creates a very unique mood. Tautou is her usual radiant self, the eternal gamine, but she also exhibits some real range here as well, especially in the film's early going as Nathalie struggles to overcome the death of François. François Damiens, the actor playing Markus, must have had some qualms about appearing in the same film as the preternaturally handsome Pio Marmai, but he has a wonderfully goofy, awkward quality to his characterization that is indeed lovable, warts (and hair and crooked teeth) and all. Like its title hints at, Delicacy is a sweet little morsel of a film, perfectly suited to those with an appetite for something a little different. Recommended.