La ciudad de los niños perdidos

I can't help myself: I adore this film. I freely accept that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea; if pushed, I might even accept that it's not perfect. But there's no film I love more, or more enjoy re-watching. One caveat though: I've seen both the subtitled and the dubbed print, and the English dubbing frankly comes close to ruining the movie. Ron Perlman dubs himself and is fine, and some of the other adult English actors are perfectly OK, though they tend to be blander than the French originals. But most of the children are terrible, and with her own voice it's Judith Vittet's extraordinary performance (all the more extraordinary considering she was nine at the time) that helps give "La Cité" the genuine emotional centre that some viewers don't feel it has.

But I'll come back to that. In any version, at least Jeunet and Caro's astonishing visual flair and artistry come over. I can't think of a film that has such a concentration of memorable shots - time and again, especially watching on DVD with a freeze-frame facility, you realize how many beautiful compositions Jean-Pierre Jeunet gives us: though the cast of characters could easily fill a freak show, and the sets are dark and quite unglamorous in themselves, the cinematography is gorgeous and the mise-en-scène often strangely elegant. It has a look all of its own, perfect for a modern, urban fairy-tale. The music too is gorgeous, one of the finest scores by David Lynch's regular musical collaborator, Angelo Badalamenti.

"Fairy tale" is I think the best generic starting-point for this film, so long as you think Grimm rather than Disney. (Unlike "Delicatessen", it isn't really a comedy, though it has comic elements). And the plot works according to its own logic, even if the progression from scene to scene is occasionally a bit lumpy or obscure. Krank (the astonishing Daniel Emilfork), grown prematurely old because he cannot dream, uses a cult of blind, messianic preachers to abduct children from a decaying industrial port and steal their dreams - but they have only nightmares, and Krank falls ever deeper into despair and evil. It's up to the orphan pickpocket Miette and a none-too-brainy circus strongman, One, to put a stop to him. This rich idea is elaborated with all sorts of visual conceits and eccentric characters - Jeunet mounts, for example, a couple of astonishing sequences in which chains of unlikely effects proceed from the smallest of causes - but never at the expense of the central relationship of One and Miette.

In a sense Miette, like Krank, has grown old too fast: the orphaned street-children of this city are savvy and unsentimental, and never seem to have had a childhood; meanwhile there's something deeply childish, in various ways, about most of the adults. Sensitively directed and never overacting, Judith Vittet's Miette gradually thaws, and Ron Perlman brings a lot of sympathy and pathos to what could have been an oafish, cartoonish role: Jeunet gives plenty of space and subtlety to their gradually-developing friendship, and dares to do what I suspect no English director would dare to do at the moment, which is to make their relationship innocently sexualized. Neither of them is really a grown-up, but it's still an extremely risky move, exploring the first stirrings of pre-pubescent sexuality while trying not to be exploitative or prurient. I do think the film pulls it off, though I can imagine some viewers feeling distinctly uncomfortable with it. For me it's one of the most convincingly unsentimental and nuanced (if mannered) portrayals of childhood I've ever seen on the screen, and there is real compassion and tenderness along the way, as well as some darker twists and turns.

It's a film that rewards analysis if you're prepared to surrender to its strange world with its strange rules. But it rewards the senses and the emotions too - and it radiates love of cinema as the perfect medium for sophisticated fantasy. One elderly actress who appears towards the end (Nane Germon) acted - as Jeunet's DVD commentary points out - in Jean Cocteau's "La Belle et la Bête" about fifty years earlier (there are, by the way, distinct references to the Beauty and the Beast story here), and "La Cité des enfants perdus" deserves to join that film as one of the classic cinematic fairy-tales. Pity about Marianne Faithfull over the closing credits, though!

I'm a fan of fantasy films. It's a mixed bag of a genre on all truth. Very rarely are there any great fantasy films. There are good ones or average ones that can merely get by on their looks. I do love the fact that fantasy films can paint such vivid and imaginative picturesque settings. As an example look at Legend. That was one of the best looking films ever made but the content of the film was not great. It was poorly scripted with hokey dialogue and a storyline aimed at 5 year olds, with creatures and effects that would scare the pants off younger children.

Now you look at the best ones and the rare ones that can be called classics with greats of other genres like Lord Of The Rings and in a more Sci-fi orientation, Star Wars. City Of The Lost C children is a French fantasy aimed at a more mature audience member, from 15 up really. It looks fantastic. The sets, the costumes, the effects, the cinematography turn this 15 million dollar film into something looking far more epic and majestic in scope. Jean Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro take joint plaudits and credit as directors, Jeunut more responsible visually and Caro for the character and story. This is endlessly imaginative and immensely enjoyable and is very quirky.

The story centres around a mad scientist, Krank, who is unable to dream, because of this he is aging quickly and is old beyond his year. He grows insane and has developed a technique to view and capture children's dreams so he can thereby inject them into his own mind. He kidnaps children from the nearby village and brings them to his lair, a king of oilrig in the middle of surrounding sea. He is aided by his brothers who are four identical clones of each other, unfortunately they all suffer from narcolepsy. Krank himself is a clone. His father who created them is now merely a brain in a tank and Krank was an unfortunate mistake who doesn't dream. The only clone who was right is an enigma called the original who has long since escaped the insanity of this evil lair only to be living underwater and a kind of insane junk collector. One day strong man, One, and his little brother are ambushed by Krank's men and One's little brother is kidnapped. Thus far Krank's captives have proved unsuccessful in his quest for a cure, because they all suffer terrible nightmares, partly due to his own nastiness. All this latest young victim responds to is food, he seems to have no fear and it seems he could be the one, just as long as Krank keeps feeding him. One sets out on a quest to find his brother meeting Miete, a young a troublesome orphan girl in the process. It's all good fun this film and while the story is simplistic it's a kind of delightfully Grimm fairytale sort of story that keeps your interest.

The cast are great. Ron Perlman is one of those cult actors who everyone seems to like and he has hit it big with the recent success Hellboy. He is a strong presence and unlike many musclemen of his stature he can act, something which has held him back somewhat because people have never really cast him as a leading action man, although in truth he's not blessed with good looks. The interestingly named Rufus, a Juenet stalwart is also very good as the clones, while Daniel Emilfork is excellent as Crank. Also good and a charming innocence is Judith Vittet as Miette.

Anyone who loves a visually stunning movie should watch this film it looks amazing. The sets, the impressionistic and exaggerated designs are brilliant. It is typically French in it's verve. This is a fantasy fans wet dream, believe me! ****

The first time I saw this movie I shook my head and wondered why I wasted three dollars renting this movie. It seemed to me that the storyline was worthless. However, I gave this movie a second chance, and this time instead of constantly reading the subtitles I paid more attention to the acting and events taking place on-screen.

I was shocked. The amount of creativity and symbolism blew me away. A lot of questions I had accumulated throughout my first viewing were answered by watching the movie carefully.

I recommend to everyone who thought this a poor movie to watch it again. If you don't speak French (like myself) try not to get so involved in the subtitles that you miss critical detail. It's there, and it's important, trust me!

The evil Krank (Daniel Emilfork), his dwarf wife and his clone minions children (Dominique Pinon) have a machine to steal the dreams of young children because Krank can't have dreams himself. One (Ron Perlman) is a strong man performer whose little brother Denree is kidnapped by Krank's underlings, the Cyclops. Miette (Judith Vittet) is a young street kid who ends up helping him.

This has a lot of weird concepts on display. I can only describe this a outlandish mix of Dickensian poverty and a french grimy Jules Verne sci-fi with a good helping of weird surrealism. The visual is a good unique grim fairy tale but the story drags a little too much. It meanders and is confused. It is in love with its visual surrealism more than trying to make sense with the story. It should be a lot more simpler than what it is. It spends a lot of time luxuriating in the weirdness of the world and the villain.

The City of Lost Children gets two platinum stars and also moves up to one of my top ten favorite films of all time. This is a confusing story, from beginning to end it expands your mind, reaches into your nightmares, and creates a story that is part Dark City and part of a novel called "The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman.

Yes, this film was everything and more. Not only visually beautiful, but the creative and symbolic meaning of the actions and words of the characters are "jaw dropping". Also, there are so many sub-stories in this film that reminded me of the style that Run Lola Run was done. This is the style that due to a connection of unrelated events something extraordinary happens. Let me give you an example from this film: There is a scene where the girl and One (Ron Pearlman-also a very biblical name) are trying to escape from the two women who want their jewels. There are events that lead from a dog finding its female companion to a boat almost hitting/splitting the women in half. Wild coincidences...imagine this times ten, and you have this film.

Keep in mind this is a French film with English subtitles, so you are not only getting the true voice of the film, but seeing the darkness of the cinematography without any American input. This really shows the purpose behind making this film, it really takes you to a new place so dark and dreamlike that you the viewer actually feel like you are in the picture itself. A movie about dreams and nightmares that takes place in a world of dreams and nightmares.

Overall, a heavily religious and symbolic film, The City of Lost Children should be put at the top of your foreign film list. Put it in your DVD player, open your mind, and be ready for a wild and intense ride!!

Grade: ***** out of *****