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| Value for Money | 9/10  |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 9/10 |
By MSpace
on 11th Jul 2005
| Starring Actor/Actress | Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet |
|---|---|
| Where Did You See It? | DVD |
| Value for money | 9/10 |
| Overall value | 9/10 |
 MSpace's recommendation | |
Fantastically inventive.
Wonderful visuals.
Superb fairy tale feel.
One or two lapses in logic.
City of Lost Children is written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Jeunet was also at least partially responsible for the rather divisive Alien Resurrection but we can forgive him that much because of his invaluable Amelie and Une Long Dimanche de Fiancailles (A Very Long Engagement). Starring the American Ron Perlman as a man with the singular name of "One", a French speaking Russian ex-whaler, Lost Children is a disturbed fairy tale lathered in visual extravaganza of the most intricate kind, and carries with it Jeunet's distinctive artistic flair.
The tale revolves around Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a bizarre man, prematurely aged, who suffers from the inability to dream. Krank lives with the diminutive Mademoiselle Bismuth (Mireille Mosse), six clones (Domnique Pinon) who suffer from narcolepsy, and a wise, but migraine enduring, brain in a tank. A scientist - the "original" that the clones were based upon - now long missing, created the entire troupe, each with their own flaws; each imperfect. Driven insane by his inability to dream, his lost innocent youth, Krank enlists the aid of the Cyclops - a gang of mechanically enhanced men - to kidnap children and bring them to his isolated artificial island. By inserting the sleeping children into a dream machine, Krank hopes to take their dreams as his own, and thence to regain his innocence, and perhaps his youth.
Among the victims of the Cyclops' raids is Denree (a very young, and perpetually wide eyed, Joseph Lucien) who happens to be the adopted brother of One (Perlman). Now a strongman in a fair (having given up his whaling ways), One falls in with a gang of child thieves, led by the emotionally mature Miette (a promising young Judith Vittet who sadly seems to have done little since). Together, One and Miette seek to rescue Denree and the other children from the evil clutches of Krank and his "family".
This is a twisted, bizarre, world that Jeunet gives us. It is filled with men like the blind Cyclops who see with the aid of a single, mechanical, eye. It is home to the conjoint twins known as "the Octopus" who keep the gang of child thieves under their power. It presents Marcello (Jean-Claude Dreyfuss) as a washed up freak show proprietor who now, in a fabulous flea-eye view sequence, uses his trained flea as an assassin. Truly the entire film simply drips imagination, colour, and spectacle. But more than that, it presents a fabulously intricate fairy tale amongst a dark and fantastic world. A fairy tale full of evil and monsters yet thoughtful and fascinating - full of what it means to be young. Not for the youngest of children - who would have nightmares for weeks on end afterwards - Lost Children is wonderfully Dahl-esque and captures the spirit of fairy tales before the likes of Disney got hold of them. Wicked things happen to wicked people, and the movie pulls no punches.
Yes, there are flaws in the magic, but they are slight - particularly if you allow yourself to become immersed in this world where dreams can be captured and bottled.
The City of Lost Children is a fantastic, in all senses of the word, piece of cinema and should not be missed.
9.0/10.
(Note : I saw the French version with subtitles, not a dubbed version.)
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