The City of Lost Children (1995)

The fantastic visions of Belgian filmmakers Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet find full fruition in this fairy tale for adults. Evoking utopias and dystopias from Brazil to Peter Pan, Caro and Jeunet create a vivid but menacing fantasy city in a perpetually twilight world. In this rough port town lives circus strongman One (Ron Perlman), who wanders the alleys and waterfront dives looking for his baby brother, snatched from him by a mysterious gang preying upon the children of the town. Rising from the harbor is an enigmatic castle where lives the evil scientist Krank (Daniel Emilfork), who has lost the ability to dream and robs the nocturnal visions of the children he kidnaps, but receives only mad nightmares from the lonely cherubs. Other wild characters include the Fagin-like Octopus--Siamese twin sisters who control a small gang of runaways-turned-thieves--Krank's six cloned henchmen (all played by the memorable Dominique Pinon from Delicatessen), and a giant brain floating in an aquarium (voiced by Jean-Louis Trintignant). Caro and Jeunet are kindred souls to Terry Gilliam (who is a vocal fan), creating imaginative flights of fancy built of equal parts delight and dread, which seem to be painted on the screen in rich, dreamy colors. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Incredible Movie

its just one of those movies that will entertain your brain.
and youll end up showing all your friends. July 4, 2008

Very strange movie

I don't know what to think of this movie. The idea sounded interesting, a man who cannot dream taking children from the city so he can dream, but I spent the first 45 minutes of the movie trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Even after watching it, I still have no clue.heh.

All I can say is this movie is messed up.LOL. There were a lot of parts of the movie I didn't understand, what was up with the women twins (were they running a thieving ring made up of children?). Then there is the scene portraying a church and its congregation in some metallic looking warehouse all wearing eye pieces (they are referred to in the movie as Cyclops, but what were they?). The odd man stealing all the children and his weird family (composed of a few clones, an odd-looking woman, and a brain encased in a box filled with liquid and a megaphone so it can "speak").

This movie was a mix of plots all jumbled together and here's the movie for you! There was no coherent plot-line that I could easily follow and that added to my confusion and not understanding what was going on. I suppose it's appropriate to portray in a strange, surreal dream-like quality in keeping with the story in the movie, that of a man who can't dream.

Oh well, it is crazy, confusing, disturbing, vivid, and just what you'd imagine your dream or nightmare would look like if put to film. IMO, I didn't think the movie was that great, I thought it a little weird, but if you're still curious just rent it. June 3, 2008

a must have movie for fans of weird films

awesome story !!!! even better cinematography !!! strangest cast of characters you will ever experience . there is no other movie out there that can ever compare with this . a true piece of art . stunning , dark , creepy and humorous at times January 27, 2008

Takes Patience But Will Reward You

The City of Lost Children (Cite des enfants perdus) is perhaps the most visually striking film I have ever seen. The film is also one of the most difficult but with patience the careful viewer will be rewarded. Directed by Jeunet and Caro the film is a fairy tale for adults. It is an exploration of the idea of innocence. The innocence of a child and the innocence of a childlike adult.

In a magical world a scientist (Daniel Emilfork) who cannot dream on his own is kidnapping children and stealing their dreams. One of the children that is kidnapped is the little brother of a circus strongman, One (Ron Perlman. The film is a quest for One to recover his lost brother. Along the way he meets Miette (Judith Vittet)a nine year old girl wise beyond her years. Together they brave the strange and mythical world of the City of Lost Children to recover the brother.

The above is an extremely simplified version of the plot. This is a film that begs to be seen. The visuals created by Jean Rebasse are truly stunning as are the costumes of Jean-Paul Gaultier. The film needs to be watched carefully. I will admit it took several viewings before I understood what was going on. Watch it for the visuals and the story will begin to emerge. Don't miss the chance to see one of the most astounding French films of the last decade.

The disc contains a commentary track by Perlman and Jeunet, talent files and production and costume galleries. October 1, 2007

Pure Genius!! Just give it some time.

At this very moment, I'm watching this film for about the 20th time to gauge on whether or not it has withstood the test of time. I can honestly say that it still ranks in my top 10 all time favorite films (although I'm not sure what the other 9 are).

Reading the review by herstory and her pathetically ignorant "It should have been made in America" statement angered me enough to write my first review of this since I saw it in the theater 10 years ago. Being from the states, I'm ashamed at the level of ignorant ethno-centrism prevalent among many from the US. I absolutely love this movie as it is unmatched in artistic vision, unless of course you count Gilliam, Burton, and Jackson (Heavenly Creatures before LOTR).

Admittedly, I didn't fully appreciate this movie the first time. After the third of fourth viewing, the story began to make much more sense. Most negative reviews have noted that there are holes in the plot, but I strongly disagree. Give it a few more viewings and I'm sure you will agree that the open-ended aspects are much more intentional that you previously thought. Every great song, film or piece of art takes needs time to marinate in order to fully appreciate every dynamic layer. This is no exception. June 11, 2007

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