The City of Lost Children
A 1995 fantasy film about stolen dreams and childhood.
The City of Lost Children (French: *La Cité des enfants perdus*) is a 1995 fantasy film. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet directed it, with Jeunet and Gilles Adrien writing the screenplay. Ron Perlman stars. Companies from France, Germany, and Spain co-produced the movie. Its visual style connects it to Jeunet’s earlier film *Delicatessen* (1991) and his later one, *Amélie* (2001). Angelo Badalamenti composed the score, and Jean Paul Gaultier designed the costumes. The film screened at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
The story follows Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a highly intelligent but cruel being created by a scientist who has since vanished. Because Krank cannot dream, he ages too quickly. He lives on an abandoned oil rig with the scientist’s other creations: six childish clones, a dwarf named Martha, and a brain in a vat called Irvin. From the rig, Krank uses a machine to steal dreams from children. A cyborg cult known as the Cyclops kidnaps these children from a nearby port city, receiving mechanical eyes and ears in return. Among the kidnapped is Denrée (Joseph Lucien), the adopted little brother of a carnival strongman named One (Ron Perlman).
After a mugger stabs the carnival manager, a gang of orphan criminals—run by conjoined twins—hires One to steal a safe. The theft succeeds, but One spots Denrée’s kidnappers and loses the safe in the harbor. One and a young orphan girl named Miette (Judith Vittet) follow the Cyclops to their headquarters, but they get captured and face execution. Meanwhile, the conjoined twins order circus performer Marcello (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to bring One back. Marcello uses trained fleas that inject a poison capsule, making the Cyclops guards violently attack each other. During the rescue, Miette falls into the harbor and seems to drown, but a diver living underwater saves her.
Miette leaves the diver’s lair and finds One and Marcello drinking in a bar. Seeing Miette alive, a remorseful Marcello lets One leave with her. The conjoined twins confront them on a pier, using Marcello’s stolen fleas to turn One against Miette. One tear from Miette triggers a chain of events that causes a ship to crash into the pier before One can strangle her. Marcello arrives and sets the fleas on the conjoined twins, allowing One and Miette to escape and continue searching for Denrée.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Marc Caro / Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Producer
- Claudie Ossard
- Writer
- Marc Caro / Jean-Pierre Jeunet / Gilles Adrien
- Music
- Angelo Badalamenti
- Cinematography
- Darius Khondji
- Editing
- Hervé Schneid
- Production Companies
- Le Studio Canal+ / Centre National de la Cinématographie / Eurimages / France 3 Cinéma / Televisión Española
- Distributor
- Union Générale Cinématographique (France) / Alta Films (Spain) / Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner (Germany)
- Released
- 1995 · 05 · Cannes · 1995 · 05 · 17 · France · 1995 · 08 · 17 · Germany
- Runtime
- 112 minutes
- Country
- France / Spain / Germany
- Language
- French
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The plot follows Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a highly intelligent but malicious being created by a vanished scientist, who cannot dream and thus ages prematurely. He lives on an abandoned oil rig with the scientist's other creations—six childish clones, a dwarf named Martha, and a brain in a vat named Irvin—and uses a dream-extracting machine to steal dreams from children kidnapped by a cyborg cult called 'the Cyclops.' Among the kidnapped is Denrée (Joseph Lucien), the adopted little brother of carnival strongman One (Ron Perlman). One, together with an orphan girl named Miette (Judith Vittet), follows the Cyclops to rescue Denrée, leading to a series of encounters with conjoined twins who run a gang of orphan criminals, a circus performer named Marcello, and a diver who lives underwater.
Reader's Guide
The film holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10, and a weighted average score of 73 on Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, praising its design and visual effects but noting the story was sometimes confusing. The film grossed over $11 million worldwide. According to authors Jen Webb and Tony Schirato, the dual nature of capitalism constitutes a main source of tension in the film, presenting both freedom and exploitation. The film has been classified as an example of the steampunk genre. It has been cited as an influence on the visual design of the original Fallout, with designer Tim Cain listing it among cinematic influences on the game's art direction.
Did You Know?
- The film was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
- The musical score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti.
- Costumes were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.
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