Micitype Pretty Good

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

leplatypus this movie succeeds in the most difficult artistic field: inventing a world. Most of the times, when authors try it, we stumble always on Middle-earth... But here, it's really an original place, between Brazil and Peter Pan… This city looks like a foggy Montmartre at sea and the visual impact is wonderful: the cast has a jewel with the girl playing Miette: she acts like a pro while she is a kid. Maybe her friendship with this big dumb guy could be commented but this exploited kid as a thief and later dreams maker is thrilling and for sure, everything is sublimated by the wonderful sad, melancholic haunting score of Badalamenti as well as his song with Faithful! So it's a real masterwork of french imagination, worthy of Melies and sadly not praised enough in my country!

Red-Barracuda The City of Lost Children is the follow up to French directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's popular and critical hit Delicatessen. It wasn't as successful as that earlier movie though. But despite not connecting with a wide audience it almost immediately became a cult movie. To date it is the last film that these two cinematic stylists have made together.To be honest, it isn't necessarily surprising that this one didn't do as well commercially as Delicatessen. Despite sharing a lot of visual ideas and having similar humour and general setting, the story by comparison is quite messy and not necessarily clear for a lot of first time viewers. The set-up is considerably more expansive than in Delicatessen though; where that one was almost exclusively based in a single tenement block, this one incorporates many locations – in the city, under the sea, on a converted oil rig – and this is really the chief strength of the film. The sets, props and costumes are all very well designed indeed. The look has that quite specific retro-future styling that Caro and Jeunet are so fond of. The detailed set-design, stylised gloomy colour scheme and controlled lighting really works well and creates an atmosphere and tone all of its own. It's the visual ideas that are definitely the real draw here.The story is somewhat less engaging. It's about an evil scientist called Krank who cannot dream. He kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams. He sends out his henchmen, the cyclops, to carry out this evil task. One day they steal the brother of a circus strongman called One who then, with the help of a little girl thief, sets out on a rescue mission. There's a few other things going on in the story but it's not especially brilliant and seems more like a means to an end; a framework that allows the directors to create their visual artistry. Having said that there are individual scenes that are well worked out such as the whole sequence down by the harbour. There are some interesting characters too such as the evil Siamese twins, known simply as The Octopus. Ron Perlman is good enough as One but better is the young performer Judith Vittet as the little thief Crumb, while Dominique Pinon is excellent in the role of the clones – he is so convincing you really do forget that it isn't four different actors on screen.For me this is not as successful as Delicatessen but it's certainly an extremely worthwhile film. It's a very interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy and at times it does look quite gorgeous.

stazza Many disagree with the previous reviewer.Not sure what the last reviewer watched, but City of lost Children is amazing cinema from the sets, color, acting, lighting, plot, it had everything pushed to the Nth from what I experienced. It is NOT a typical American style movie. It is French and luckily, they are allowed to have an alternate path to interesting movie making.This guy Jeunet puts a LOT into all of his productions. Almost a mentally overwhelming amount of style, info and actions (not action packed, but activities that go on in or behind the scene). He also did Amelie which is just as astounding and one of the best films ever made. Watch it start to finish if you don't believe that.The City of Lost Childen extends its name sake across many peoples from the twisted characters that are adults and act like the children they never were, to the children who are lost from being children and must be adults. Not to mention the abductions and the reason for that. So it is a win on many levels. One of the best, and I am so grateful I happened across this bazaar gem of a flick.Wish more movies were as intricately entertaining as this art piece is.

Luciano Marzo This is really one of the best movies I have ever seen, and it is one of my personal favorites. Its imaginative and powerful premise is brought to life by a creative story, excellent acting, skilled direction, innovative special effects, dreamy visuals, and a surreal atmosphere. The City of Lost Children also has a gloomy and chilling soundtrack that suits the movie perfectly. The movie takes place in a corrupt, dismal town filled with orphans, villains, and miscreants. Most of the adults are portrayed as evil, while the kids are the heroes. However, there is one good adult, who befriends the orphans. His brother is one of the many kids to have been kidnapped by the mad scientist named Krane. The scientist is incapable of dreaming, and makes a machine that connects his head to the heads of children. He uses this contraption to haunt the kids' dreams because he cannot dream on his own. He believes his lack of dreams is causing him to age prematurely. But the kids are stuck on the "island" that is his laboratory. That is a simplified, condensed summary of the movie. It is sometimes hard to follow, though, because of its intricate plot. Many critics have praised its originality, though some have complained that many of its fascinating concepts are not fully developed, or explained. They seem to think that the movie needed to be longer to offer a full explanation. While this argument does have merit, I believe that the movie would have lost momentum, had it been longer. The City of Lost Children is not perfect, but it is a rich and vivid fantasy that is otherworldly, evocative, and moving. It is not for everybody, though; some will be turned off by its nightmarish mood and complex narrative; however, that does not change the fact that it is an engaging and refreshing film in that it is totally original. The City of Lost Children showcases enormous talent and ability, in so many areas: story, direction, characterization, visuals, music, and acting are all top-notch. It is certainly one of the most original movies of the decade, and one of the most imaginative and compelling films I have ever seen.