Rating: 
Summary: Original and Daunting
Review: If you were to combine elements of Fritz Lang, Carl Jung, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Jean Cocteau, the Brothers Quay, Ken Russel and Edgar Varese, you might approximate what Caro, Jeunet and company have created. These creative geniuses take you the audience into the innermost and darkest recesses of your Freudian Id. It is a place where nightmares of the most disturbing order reside, a place, as the movie's tag line promises, "Where happily ever after is just a dream." If you can't figure out what is going on, it's OK. The lead actor, Ron Perlman, admits in the director/actor voice-over that is included as a DVD extra, that he didn't have a clue what Jeunet was up to the entire time they were filming. Jeunet, in fact wanted to keep his cast unsettled and in the dark, and a dark place it is indeed. One aspect of the film that is particularly unsettling involves a scene in which several of the very young cast members are almost frightened to death by the grotesque-looking Krank (Daniel Emilfork) dressed in a Santa costume, along with one of his clone henchmen/brothers, (le scaphandrier/les clones) played by the late Dominique Pinon. Then again, on the director's voice-over, Jeunet reveals he had to cut a scene from an early segment in the movie, because the kid involved became "too frightened." I don't know if I, for one, could have handled that one, even for the sake of art. This is obviously not a kid's fairy tale, nor is it a kid's movie. It's a genuine nightmare, but not without its share of Grand Guignol humor. All the villains, and even the hero, One, (Ron Perlman in another highly idiosyncratic role), are groteques. The only characters approaching normal are the children. In that respect, the movie is a reflection of how all children sometimes see the world of adults through the filtering lens of their active imaginations. Jeunet wants us to see that world from a similar perspective. The cast is uniformly excellent. The young actress playing Miette (Judith Vittet) is personable and beautiful. The kid who plays One's little brother is real little character. Jeunet comments that the very young cast members presented some unique directing challenges (the little boy wouldn't keep his eyes closed when he was supposed to fall asleep, for instance). The cinematographer is a genius. Lighting, sound, DVD quality, all top notch. Another plus is that there are several English/French language combinations so you can watch it dubbed, subtitled, or in the original language. It's such a unique and captivating movie that I tried it in all three modes. If your French is limited, as mine is, I would suggest watching it in French with English subtitles, as the actors voices in the English dub version do not measure up to the originals (particularly jarring is the actor who dubs in Pinon's characters). If you don't mind mythology of the dark, disturbing variety and enjoy visually-creative, original film making, by all means check this one out.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply astounding.
Review: City of Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1995) Jean-Pierre Jeunet is an astounding talent, one of Belgium's true living treasures. Along with his longtime collaborator Marc Caro, he's created two of the finest films of the nineties, Delicatessen and City of Lost Children. The former is a comedic nightmare, the latter a nightmarish comedy. It's a subtle difference, but an important one. You're more likely to be laughing out loud at Delicatessen most of the time. The story is complex and surreal, and certainly too twisted to relate here. The basic plot is that an old scientist (Daniel Emilfork, likely best remembered by American audiences from Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?), in his quest for youth, has taken up kidnapping children and stealing their dreams. While doing so, he chances to take Denree, the little brother of partially retarded sideshow strongman One (Ron Perlman, recently in Blade II). One, along with Denree's best friend Mariette (the charming, sassy Judith Vittet) sets off on a quest to discover the location of the scientist's secret hideout. There is much more to it than this, of course... The thing about Jeunet's films that makes them sit apart from the rest of the world is his use of weird cinematographic quirks. Everything in Jeunet's earlier films is dark, smoggy, with a weird amber sheen overlaid. Natural light is some fabled creation that the characters may have at one point heard about, but it's obvious they've never experienced it. The effect is that of a film like Metropolis or Bladerunner, but the viewer doesn't have to strain his eyes so much. The overall effect is that the images in some way match the weird dada quality of the screenplay; it's as if the filmmakers are drawing you into the realm of the weird subconsciously as well as throwing plots at you that no normal human being could ever conceive. He also takes pains to cast odd-looking characters, and when they're less than odd-looking, uses hair and costume styling to make them odd. (I doubt anyone who ever sees this film will be able to watch Ron Perlman as a tough guy again without thinking of this hairdo.) There is not a step made wrong here. Unlike Delicatessen, which leavens the surreal atmosphere with constant doses of black humor, City of Lost Children is almost relentless in creating its veil of disturbance. The humor to be found herein is always close to that hysterical edge, and often plunges well over the line. The effect is that of looking at the wreck of a glass train through binoculars; the accident itself isn't enough, all the gory details are revealed for your viewing endurement. The film became a cult hit almost immediately upon release, and fans of dark film who have somehow never seen this before are likely to recognize a lot of films that have come since on which it has been an obvious influence (Alex Proyas' Dark City, in retrospect, wears its Jeunet and Caro-loving heart on its sleeve in many, many ways). Is it that good? Oh, yeah. It's that good. **** ½
Rating:
Summary: style WITH the substance
Review: this movie stuns you visually and warms your heart, all at the same time. visually, the movie perfectly combined aspects of both future and past--the costumes and settings are from the early 20th century while the machines and devices and the "cyclops" kid-snatchers, while retaining an antique look, are obviously not of this time. everyone who i've shown this movie to instantly comments on it's beauty. but there's also a very touching story behind the aesthetics. a gentle giant of a man goes in search of his kid-napped adopted baby brother and along the way finds help from a group of outlaw orphans. the leader of this group, a very pretty and charming girl named miette, grows attached to this strong-man and very sweet brother-sister relationship is formed between to two. this movie is difficult to explain in words. it's that stunningly beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This movie is stunning. You've never seen anything like it with the possible exceptoins of Delicatessen and Amelie. To my way of thinking, this is the best of the three. Cool story, comic bookie visuals, great, efficient acting, just all-in-all very well put together. Like anything by Terry Gilliam, this fantasy world is perfectly self-contained: no surplus, nothing missing. Not for very young children, not for those who hate reading subtitles: it's in French.
Rating:
Summary: City of Lost Children
Review: Bizarre. Once you start to watch it you have to watch again...after awhile you forget that it is in French and that your reading English subtitles. My brother still swears to me it is in English. It is a movie that draws you in by its innocence that is almost not there and by it's bizarreness that seems normal. Watch it once than watch it again because you HAVE to. A fantastic cult movie along the lines of 'Freaks.'
Rating:
Summary: Praise!
Review: This is a classic! On the DVD you get to choose between english + french & spanish! In the special features section you can view 2 movie trailers & look at some really cool art work! This is just the best version you can get! Get it on DVD, You'll probably regret buying the video, I did.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece!
Review: The French know art; The City of Lost Children is an artistic masterpiece; a journey through a fantasy-like city.
Rating:
Summary: Literally Out of this world
Review: Not just the story goes on a almost out of this world city even the art direction, the sotry, the casting...
I'm not overacting.
If you want to see a modern tale this is the right movie.
Good argument and dialogs.
Some parts have animations and for been 1995 it looks advanced in time.
Rating:
Summary: Weird little film.
Review: CoLC is set in a grim, industrial-futuristic city where life is cheap and good & evil have no meaning. Children are being stolen and used in a macabre experiment by a deranged creature who has the city authorities terrified of him. His cyborg henchmen roam freely throughout the city and the only ones who dare stand up to him are an out-of-work circus strongman and an 11 year old thief.
Rating:
Summary: What a well-done DVD!
Review: The 5 stars are for both the movie itself and the DVD version. Man, is this nicely done. You can choose from fullscreen or widescreen. Neither finicky fans nor polyglots are likely to be disappointed with this professional rendering: There are English, Spanish, and French subtitles and/or audio, or you can choose the original French audio only, or mix and match as you please. The subtitles are in yellow and below the frame line, for the most part, leaving you with an unobtruded-on picture. The dub into English is also competently done, but not stellar. There is a directory's commentary channel (#4), as well as production sketches and the original (wordless) trailer. As for the movie itself, it's doubtless one of the most original I've ever seen, but enough of that has been written elsewhere.
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