grantss Set in a dystopian society, someone is kidnapping the children. Krank and his band of clones are using the children to harvest their dreams. Then they kidnap Denree, the brother of One, a fairground strongman. One sets out to find his brother...Quite inane and often incoherent, yet it works (to a degree). Initially quite intriguing, the plot soon become quite random. At a point you stop trying to make sense of it all and just go along for the ride.And what a ride it is. The pace is frenetic and the movie fun and this papers over many of the flaws in the plot.Written and directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who also gave us the equally-weird Delicatessen. The City of Lost Children isn't of the same quality as Delicatessen, however, as Delicatessen made more sense in the end and had some interesting themes running through it. The City of Lost Children has no real claims in the themes department and is purely about the fun.

gavin6942 A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.Ron Perlman is a great actor. He has an unusual look (not ugly, just different) and has used it to angle for some great roles in fantastic film. This one, of course, but also "Hellboy" and others. He is an unlikely success story, and good for him! And these guys make such good films, with a beautiful cinematography and a blend of the surreal and the fantastic. And plenty of humor. Arguably, "Amelie" is their best, but this is great, and so is "Delicatessen". It would be hard to pick just one.

Dalbert Pringle Step right this way into the nightmare/fantasy world of this truly bizarre, freaky and phenomenally weird tale that comes at you straight from hell.Very quirky and curious, The City Of Lost Children (TCOLC) is definitely something of an original (it's actually hard to believe this is even possible in this "been there/seen that" age of filmdom that we live in these days).You can be sure that this is one far-out fairy tale that you'll never, ever see coming to you from the likes of Disney Studios.This undoubtedly strange, and, yes, unsettling little tale is sure to leave quite a lasting impression on the viewer long after the closing credits have rolled on by.Directed with a truly astonishing visual flair, TCOLC puts a unique, new twist (that's very dark and surreal) on the familiar "Mad Scientist" theme. (This is the sort of twisted twist that seems to work its magic about 75% of the time) Set in an awesome "otherworld" of shadows and light, TCOLC's story revolves around the doings of Dr. Krank (a total mad scientist, if you've ever seen one) who has his team of cloned henchmen abduct the young children of the city whom he wants for his experiments.Using a most unusual contraption, Krank (who is aging prematurely) then attempts to steal the dreams of these innocent babes because he, himself, cannot dream.This is one of those films where trying to go into any great detail about its story would only be an utter waste of time. You really need to see TCOLC for yourself to fully appreciate it for the richness of vision that it has to offer.On the down side - 2 of TCOLC's drawbacks were that its story has a tendency to be quite uneven at times and actor Ron Perlman (whom I do not like) has a substantial role in the scheme of things.These 2 deficits are actually quite minor, though, in comparison to the up-side of this mighty weird and entertaining gem.

david-sarkies The critics don't know what to make of this movie but give it a good rating anyway. Me, I definitely know what to make of this movie and consider it a masterpiece of film making. The French are very much the artists. They create the Eifiel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and the Cannes Film Festival. When it comes to making a movie, they know how to do it, and the City of Lost Children is one such movie.The critics cannot seem to understand the plot, and that is probably because they are too stupid to see it. A scientist, Krank, cannot dream, so he kidnaps children and attempts to steal their dreams. Unfortunately the children cannot have good dreams so he ends up with nightmares which inevitably kill the children. A young boy, Dedree, is kidnapped by the Cyclops, a fanatical cult that have blinded themselves and wear an electronic eye, and is sold to the scientist. Dedree's big brother, One, seeks him but becomes embroiled in an Oliver Twist gang ring led by a siamese twin known as Octopus.This is said to have been the most expensive French film ever made, and visually it shows it. The City of Lost Children is a movie which soars above the Hollywood blockbusters in visual masterpiece. The directors seem to have their own little quirks in here, like the snowball events. That is something happens which causes something else to happen, which ends up saving the heroes. The final one is a classic, where one tear ends up causing a ship to smash into a dock.There are some visuals which call back images of Alien Resurrection, such as the babies in a survival tank. What is interesting is how most of the movie is green and that there is a lot of water. This is a contrast to Delicatessen which is yellow and very dry.The City of Lost Children is a fantasy. It has the feel of a Jules Verne style of science fiction but it seems to be more of a future in the past. Rather that being critical of what should be and what should not be, we should just look at this as being in a realm somewhere between fantasy and reality.