The City of Lost Children

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The City of Lost Children
City of lost children french movie poster.jpg
Film Poster (France)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Marc Caro
Produced by Félicie Dutertre
Written by Gilles Adrien
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring Ron Perlman
Daniel Emilfork
Judith Vittet
Dominique Pinon
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Cinematography Eric Caro
Philippe LeSourd
Darius Khondji
Editing by Ailo August
Herve Shneid
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s) 17 May 1995
Running time 112 min.
Country France
Germany
Spain
Language French

The City of Lost Children (French: La Cité des enfants perdus) is a 1995 French science fantasy drama film directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Ron Perlman. The film is stylistically related to the previous and subsequent Jeunet films, Delicatessen and Amélie. The music score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti. It was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Contents

Plot [edit]

From an ocean rig, a demented scientist, Krank (Daniel Emilfork), kidnaps children to steal their dreams. Among them is the little brother, Denree (Joseph Lucien), of carnival strongman and former Russian sailor One (Ron Perlman), who sets out to rescue him with the help of a young, orphaned, thieves' guild member named Miette (Judith Vittet). They delve into the world of a bio-mechanical kidnapping cult and discover the connection between the scientist and the missing Denree.

Krank is both aided and hindered by Martha, a diminutive woman; Irving (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a talkative brain in a tank; and six identical clones of the genius (Dominique Pinon) who created them all and has been missing for many years. They support the cult with technology as they gather children for Krank's experiments to give him dreams as without the ability he is aging rapidly.

Conjoined twins known as the Octopus control the guild of thieves in their robberies but have become distrustful of Miette and hire One to help the children steal a safe. The Octopus believes Miette has been holding out and has deserted to help One. They employ performer Marcello (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to ensure Miette pays and One returns to them, and much to his distaste he allows Miette to drown while rescuing One from the cult using a mind control system.

Beneath the waters Miette's last sight is that of a deep sea diver who takes her to his lair and catalogues her body. He is revealed to be a delusional paranoid and identical to the clones except older with a beard. An accident revives Miette and she finds One and Marcello both drinking and full of sorrow in a bar. The angered Octopus has a henchman (Rufus) dispose of the bumbling Marcello and uses the stolen mind control to turn One against Miette; the smallest of actions has the largest of results in a spectacular chain of events leading to the Octopus' demise instead.

When a dream escapes the rig, it plants information in Miette's mind and restores some of the diver's memories, including how he was attacked by Krank and the woman he created as a wife and dropped into the sea. They all converge on the rig with the Genius armed to destroy it and the duo to rescue Denree. Miette is forced to enter a dream world to release Denree from the dream extracting machine as the Genius straps himself and dynamite to the legs of the rig. In the dream world Miette is joined by Krank where she uses her imagination to control the dream and foil him once and for all. One and Miette rescue all the children as the explosions start and the Genius finds papers, finally regaining his memory of who he is as the clones and Irving row away.

Cast [edit]

Reception [edit]

The film holds a 82% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews,[2] and a Metascore of 73 on Metacritic.[3]

The film is widely regarded as a steampunk film as, despite pre-dating the widespread use of the term, the typical stylistic features of arcane, but visible, machinery are pervasive throughout.[4][5]

Memorable quotes [edit]

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Krank: Irvin? L'oncle Irvin: I've got a migraine! Krank: Irvin, you know all about feelings. Won't you try to help me? Won't you explain why all those children only have nightmares? L'oncle Irvin: Because you are their nightmare. You could persecute all the children in the world, but there's one thing you'll never have. Krank: What? L'oncle Irvin: A soul. Krank: Because you believe you have one? You don't even have a body. The one who created us made us all monsters. L'oncle Irvin: No Krank, you're wrong. You are the only monster here. Krank: [Distressed] Be Quiet! He is the only one responsible for that, I say I'm innocent. I'm innocent! Krank: [Shuffles away and then turns back with regained composure] In any case, I thank you for your help.

Miette: One? [One grunts] Miette: You asleep? [One breathes deeply and mumbles] Miette: What did you do before? One: One sailor. Harpooned Whales. One night [pauses] One: One hear whales singing. After [gestures throwing of harpoon] One: always always the target I miss. One loses job. Miette: One? [pauses] Miette: What's it like to have a little brother? One: Keeps you [pauses] One: running. Miette: Well, he can't complain he's got nobody to worry about him. One: [Turns over] Denree- little brother. Miette- little sister. [Blows air on Miette's back] Miette: What are you doing? One: [Whispers in Miette's ear] Radiator

Video game [edit]

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 60% (PC)[6]
54.50% (PS)[7]
Review scores
Publication Score
Allgame 2/5 stars (PC)[8]
1.5/5 stars (PS)[9]
Edge 4 out of 10 (PS)[10]
Game Informer 5.5 out of 10 (PS)[11]
GamePro 3/5 stars (PS)[12]
GameSpot 4.6 out of 10 (PC)[13]
3.8 out of 10 (PS)[14]
IGN 5 out of 10 (PS)[15]
PC Zone 8.4 out of 10 (PC)[16]

A video game based on the film was released in the US and in parts of Europe for the PC first and then the PlayStation console.[17] So far the PC version holds a score of 60%,[6] while the PlayStation version holds a score of 54.50%,[7] both from GameRankings.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The City of Lost Children". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-09-04. 
  2. ^ "The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus) (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. 
  3. ^ "The City of Lost Children". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  4. ^ Cohen, Noam S. (2008). Speculative nostalgias: Metafiction, science fiction and the putative death of the novel. ProQuest. p. 166. ISBN 978-1243560216. 
  5. ^ Klaw, Rick (2008). "The Steam-Driven Time Machine: A Pop Culture Survey". In Jeff VanderMeer. Steampunk. Ann VanderMeer. San Francisco: Tachyon Publications. p. 355. 
  6. ^ a b "The City of Lost Children for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  7. ^ a b "The City of Lost Children for PlayStation". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  8. ^ House, Michael L. "The City of Lost Children (PC) - Overview". Allgame. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  9. ^ House, Michael L. "The City of Lost Children (PS) - Review". Allgame. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  10. ^ "The City of Lost Children for DOS - MobyRank". MobyGames. Retrieved 2012-10-11. 
  11. ^ "The City of Lost Children - PlayStation". Game Informer. April 1997. Archived from the original on 1997-10-21. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  12. ^ The Rookie. "The City of Lost Children Review". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-02-18. Retrieved 2012-10-11. 
  13. ^ Sengstack, Jeff (1997-04-24). "City of Lost Children Review (PC)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  14. ^ Smith, Josh (1997-07-17). "The City of Lost Children Review (PS)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2012-10-10. 
  15. ^ IGN Staff (1997-05-23). "City of Lost Children". IGN. Retrieved 2012-10-11. 
  16. ^ "PC Review: The City Of Lost Children". PC Zone. 2001-08-13. Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2012-10-11. 
  17. ^ "City of Lost Children Video Game". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2007-02-22. 

External links [edit]

Films directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
1990s
2000s
2010s
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