La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Gilles Adrien (writer) &
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (writer) ...

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Where happily ever after is just a dream.

Plot:

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Dream | Aging | Circus | Orphan

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Ron Perlman	...	One
Daniel Emilfork	...	Krank
Judith Vittet	...	Miette
Dominique Pinon	...	le scaphandrier / les clones
Jean-Claude Dreyfus	...	Marcello
Geneviève Brunet	...	la Pieuvre
Odile Mallet	...	la Pieuvre
Mireille Mossé	...	Mademoiselle Bismuth
Serge Merlin	...	Gabriel Marie (Cyclops Leader)
Rufus	...	Peeler
Ticky Holgado	...	Ex-acrobat
Joseph Lucien	...	Denree
Mapi Galán	...	Lune
Briac Barthélémy	...	Bottle
Pierre-Quentin Faesch	...	Pipo

Also Known As:

The City of Lost Children (UK) (USA)
Die Stadt der verlorenen Kinder (Germany)
La ciudad de los niños perdidos (Spain)
La ciutat dels nens perduts (Spain: Catalan title) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing and grotesque images of violence and menace.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France | Germany | Spain

Language:

French | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Studios 91 Arpajon, Saint-Germain-les-Arpajon, Essonne, France

Company:

Club d'Investissement Média

Trivia:

To achieve the slightly skewed color scheme of the movie, the actors were made up in white face and the color palette corrected until they were flesh-toned.

Quotes:

Miette: What are you doing?
One: Radiator.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Starz Inside: Fashion in Film (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

My Very Sweet Lady

It's so bizarre that it's beautiful; it's so illogical that it's funny; it's so dark that it's so sweet.

It's so bizarre that it's beautiful; it's so illogical that it's funny; it's so dark that it's so sweet. That's The City of the Lost Children. The plot it's that the evil -and weird- Krank (Daniel Emilfork) kidnap children to stole their dreams due to the lack of his ability of dream. Or at least he did it, until it came One (Ron Perlman), in the search of his adoptive little brother, aided by Miette (Judith Vittet), a street smart orphan child.

In technical aspects it's a master piece. The decoration give a baroque sensation of always being in small places, yet it's a full city populated of bizarre characters as the story itself.

The acting it's great. I'm quiet impressed for the flawless french that Ron Perlman show us, he's just simply astounding. I cannot say less of Judith Vittet, that being a child in that time she was a tremendous actress. The two have a good chemistry as a girl mature as an adult and a grow up man with the innocence of a kid.

I can't say that this is a movie that everyone would like, because it's not. It have a little of nonsense that might be not of the like of all the public. And all the dark atmosphere might be a little suffocating. So, take the risk and watch it, and then decide: you love it, or you hate it.