Life, Love and other Delicacies (Delicacy film review)

First of all the actors.

Having captured our hearts more than 10 years ago with her quirky character in ‘Amelie’, Audrey Tautou is charming and perhaps more down to earth in this French film as Nathalie, a young widow learning to deal with her grief after the death of her husband.

However, Francois Damiens easily steals the show with his portrayal of Markus, Nathalie’s Swedish co-worker who is balding and physically appears to be a complete contrast to the dainty Tautou. It’s just impossible not to love this awkward character. Everything about him is loveable – from his uncomfortable looking stance to his poor efforts at protecting himself from falling for Nathalie by literally choosing not looking at her.

Babel (rhymes with bagel)

In the beginning, all the Lord’s people from all over the world spoke one language. Nothing they proposed was impossible for them. But fearing what the spirit of man could accomplish, the Lord said:

“Let us go down and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11: 7)

The story of the tower of Babel begins with humanity speaking a single language and through an act of defiance built a tower so high that its peak reached heaven. God thereby punished them by creating different languages and scattering mankind all over the world.

This is the basic premise of the film by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu. To be honest, this is one of the only films that I can watch countless number of times and enjoy it just as much, if not more than my first time.

The best movies are the ones that seamlessly transport the audience into another world. The best directors are those who leave us with the perfect map of the journey – with just the right amount of clues – and lead us through a well-thought out route through this exotic landscape. And as the tourist we leave this town which had once seemed so strange, with our hearts full, our minds filled with memories of new experiences, wishing we didn’t have to say goodbye. Finally, we hope to take with us a new perspective or outlook on life (the real one) as the most priceless souvenir.