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The City of Lost Children

Ron Perlman

Dominique Pinon

Judith Vittet

Daniel Emilfork

Jean-Claude Dreyfus

Geneviève Brunet

Odile Mallet

Mireille Mossé

Serge Merlin

Rufus

Ticky Holgado

Cris Huerta

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Joseph Lucien

Mapi Galán

Briac Barthélémy

Pierre-Quentin Faesch

Alexis Pivot

François Hadji-Lazaro

Dominique Bettenfeld

Lotfi Yahya Jedidi

Thierry Gibault

Marc Caro

Ham Chau Luong

Frankie Pain

Enrique Villanueva

Dominique Chevalier

Lorella Cravotta

Éric Houzelot

Philippe Beautier

Marc Amyot

Jean-Philippe Labadie

Raphaèle Bouchard

Elisabeth Etienne

Rachel Boulenger

Michel Motu

Nane Germon

Léo Rubion

Guillaume Billod-Morel

Bezak

Hong Mai Thomas

René Pivot

Daniel Adric

Christophe Salengro

René Marquant

Michel Smolianoff

Lili Cognard

Angélique Philibert

Marie Piémontèse

Antoinette Dias

Zak Russomanno

Djamila Bouda

Lauren Geoffroy

Cyril Aubin

Bruno Journée

Jérémie Freund

Joris Geneste

Julie Bernard

Valentin Simonet

Eglantine Blanckaert

Gaëtan Bouyala

Mickael Bussinger

Jonathan Gatinois

Joshka Kaufmann

Morgan Mariac

Caroline Marsily

Geoffroy Morange

Sébastien Thaissart

Charlotte Bienfait

Camille Dufeu

Robinson Fouille

Alysia Hoffeurt

Sandy Kontargyris

Andrew Laupen

Théo Madueno

Arthur Mazet

Fackry M'Saidie

Gabriel Pierre

Bérangère Pivot

Charlotte Ribaud-Chevrey

Laura Robert

Caroline Rochand

Carolane Yvan

Margot Tostivint

Buster Verbraeken

Mathieu Kassovitz

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Félicie Dutertre

María Victoria Hebrero

José Luis Lopez

Arlette Mas

Claudie Ossard

François Rabes

Angelo Badalamenti

Darius Khondji

Hervé Schneid

Pierre-Jacques Bénichou

Aline Bonetto

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Georges Mougine

Denis Ozenne

Gilles Adrien

Jean Rabasse

Pitof

Guillaume Laurant

Marie-Laure Valla

Beya Gasmi

Benoît Lestang

John Nollet

Stéphanie Selva

Nathalie Tissier

Jean-Jacques Damiani

Isabelle Morax

Edith Pommerol

Fabien Pondevaux

Gilles Saulnier

Daniel Szuster

Bruno Vignier

Primitivo Álvaro

Grégoire Barachin

Christophe Douchand

Jean-Marc Tostivint

Vincent Arnardi

Vianney Aube

Emmanuel Augeard

Aïlo Auguste-Judith

Lucien Balibar

Aymeric Devoldère

Pierre Excoffier

Vincent Guillon

Jean-Pierre Halbwachs

Gérard Hardy

Laurent Kossayan

Franck Lebon

Thierry Lebon

Jean-Louis Lebras

Jean-Pierre Lelong

Jacques Lévy

Pierre Martens

Mario Melchiorri

Bruno Mercère

Laurent Zeilig

Cyrille Zoukhotine

Philippe Alleton

Jean-Baptiste Bonetto

Yves Domenjoud

Delphine Doreau

Denis Gastou

Olivier Gleyze

Pierre-Paul Jayne

Lionel Mathis

Pascal Molina

Jean-Christophe Spadaccini

Alain Carsoux

Jean-Marc Castera

Pierre Buffin

Delphine Domer

Thomas Duval

Hubert Fourneaux

Cédric Houplain

Arnon Manor

Frederic Soumagnas

Veronique Zylberfain

Eric Barone

Jean-Claude Braquet

Rémi Canaple

Patrick Cauderlier

Pascaline Girardot

Christian Hening

Filipe Manuel Neto

**A visual spectacle with an irritating story that doesn't justify the time spent watching the film.**

I loved – like almost everyone else – “Amelie” and I didn't particularly like “Delicatessen”. However, I didn't give up on Jean Pierre Jeunet and decided to see this film. I confess that I was impressed by the visual quality, but this is practically a trademark of the director, who seems to have a particular predilection for the color green (it was quite evident in Amelie, and in this film it was once again the dominant color of the chromatic palette). However, it returns to being, as “Delicatessen” had been, a rather strange, depressing and bizarre film. More bizarre than some Tim Burton movies, which isn't easy.

In view of what has been described above, I think it will not be surprising if I say that it is a film that is basically based on visual and special resources. There's immense visual effort here, and there's no doubt that Jeunet is behind it. The cinematography is very good, with an excellent filming work, and the sets deserve our attention. The costumes were designed by Jean Paul Gautier, so they're practically haute couture (with all the oddities that usually implies) and the soundtrack does a good job, too.

The cast is quite complete, and the characters are complicated and difficult to understand. I can even say that some characters look like caricatures or things out of Coney Island, from some freak show. I liked, however, the effort made here by Dominique Pinon, one of the great French actors of our time. He doesn't play just one character, but a legion of clones. I also liked Ron Perlman, he's good for this type of film, but honestly, I feel that the actor wasn't comfortable either with his role or with the material he was given. I don't know to what extent the language barrier was actually the cause of that, but it was the feeling I got.

The film is, essentially, a depressing and decadent futuristic dystopia, where a long-deranged scientist kidnaps children to steal their dreams. The basis of the plot is somewhat reminiscent of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”. Then we have a duo of Siamese twins who make up the main villains, and behave in an absolutely bizarre way, and a strong man who decides to go in search of his younger brother, kidnapped like many others, in the company of a girl who will help you. However, everything else is extraordinarily complicated. It seems that the script didn't get the attention it deserved: there are parts that are very underwritten, points that don't make any sense, strange twists that seem to happen just to make everything even more strange and out of the ordinary. As a story told, it's an irritating and worthless movie.

CinemaSerf

The basic premiss of this film is really quite simple. "Krank" (Daniel Emilfork) is super-bright, slightly deranged and lonely. He lives on a remote oil rig with only whom he can manufacture for companionship. His biggest problem is that he cannot dream. Without them he will die. He must, therefore, obtain as many other people's dreams as he can. To that end he constructs an entire community of one-eyed servants, a brain that lives in tank feeding on Alka Seltzer and some clones that are all led by the diminutively menacing "Martha" (Mireille Mossé). This "family" might have made "Dr. Moreau" proud. He hopes that they will help to collect enough kids to perpetuate his immortality. The thing is, all those he does manage to collect are nightmares because the children he kidnaps are all petrified of him. He needs some nice ones! Meantime, his army of robotic creations alight on "Denree" (Joseph Lucien) without reckoning on his determined strongman brother "One" (Ron Perlman) who is determined to fetch him back. He duly travels to their offshore structure and aided by the feisty "Miette" (Judith Vittet) and a lot of green wool, sets about trying to rescue his little brother - and all the others trapped in the installation - and to make sure that "Krank" and his hoodlums plunder no more. Emilfork is on great form as the archetypal mad scientist and Dominique Pinon looks like he's having great fun as the clones who do their masters's bidding whilst injecting some silly humour. There's an hybrid of stories here - part "Frankenstein", part "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with costumes eccentrically designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier,  and it does rather meander at times - but this is a film about it's look and it's sheer imagination. It's as if someone had allowed Messrs. Caro and Jeunet unfettered access to the props department at MGM or Universal and told them to use what they can. They have the imagination of a child and boy do they use it. Mechanical gadgets, gizmos, green mists, dense fog. You name it and these allow the whole thing to imbue us with a sense of a playful, dark, adventurousness. It's comedic at times, threatening at others and there's a surprisingly effective chemistry between the usually wooden Perlman and his juvenile co-star Vittet that helps anchor the fantasy. It's surreal and gorgeous to watch and you'll need to suspend your expectations of linear, structured, cinema if you are to enjoy it. It's unique and creative. Probably a bit "bonkers" too!

The City of Lost Children 1995 Trailer HD | Ron Perlman

Cité des enfants perdus - City of Lost Children - Trailer

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The City of Lost Children

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Cast

Ron Perlman

Dominique Pinon

Judith Vittet

Daniel Emilfork

Jean-Claude Dreyfus

Geneviève Brunet

Odile Mallet

Mireille Mossé

Serge Merlin

Rufus

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