MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 80 this week

The City of Lost Children (1995)
"La cité des enfants perdus" (original title)

7.6
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 41,428 users   Metascore: 73/100
Reviews: 229 user | 67 critic | 16 from Metacritic.com

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 24 titles created 06 Feb 2012
 
a list of 964 titles created 10 Mar 2012
 
a list of 2369 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 580 titles created 16 Jul 2011
 
a list of 786 titles created 22 Jan 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The City of Lost Children (1995)

The City of Lost Children (1995) on IMDb 7.6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The City of Lost Children.
2 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery. He meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful ... See full summary »

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders
Action | Adventure | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.

Director: Terry Gilliam
Stars: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley
Brazil (1985)
Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A bureaucrat in a retro-future world tries to correct an administrative error and himself becomes an enemy of the state.

Director: Terry Gilliam
Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Adventure | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A salaryman and yakuza are each sent by their bosses to a remote Chinese village but discover more then they expected.

Director: Takashi Miike
Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Renji Ishibashi, Mako
Stalker (1979)
Adventure | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
S1m0ne (2002)
Comedy | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person.

Director: Andrew Niccol
Stars: Al Pacino, Benjamin Salisbury, Catherine Keener
The Fall (2006)
Adventure | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story of five mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality blurs as the tale advances.

Director: Tarsem Singh
Stars: Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Lee Pace
Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals.

Director: Peter Hewitt
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler
Adventure | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.

Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett
Adventure | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

One year after their father's funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with one another.

Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman
Adventure | Drama | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A meek and alienated little boy finds a stranded extraterrestrial. He has to find the courage to defy the authorities to help the alien return to its home planet.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote
The Fly (1986)
Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
One
Daniel Emilfork ...
Judith Vittet ...
...
...
Geneviève Brunet ...
Odile Mallet ...
Mireille Mossé ...
Serge Merlin ...
Rufus ...
...
Joseph Lucien ...
Mapi Galán ...
Briac Barthélémy ...
Pierre-Quentin Faesch ...
Edit

Storyline

Krank (Daniel Emilfork), who cannot dream, kidnaps young children to steal their dreams. One (Ron Perlman), a former whale hunter who is as strong as a horse, sets forth to search for Denree, his little brother who was kidnapped by Krank's men. Helped by young Miette (Judith Vittet), he soon arrives in La Cite des Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children). Written by Marie-Andree Poisson

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Some people follow their dreams. Others steal them. See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing and grotesque images of violence and menace | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

| |

Language:

|

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The City of Lost Children  »

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,513,028 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ron Perlman doesn't speak French and was the only American on set. But he learned all of his lines, and delivered them without error. In commentaries and interviews, however, he insists his French was bad. See more »

Goofs

The words from The Original that Miette remembers in flashback (after she receives Uncle Irvin's dream message) differ slightly from what The Original actually said, although the point of the message is still the same. See more »

Quotes

Krank: Quiet! You vegetable!
See more »

Connections

References Brazil (1985) See more »

Soundtracks

"Serenade Gouden Hart"
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Quiet! You vegetable!
25 September 2004 | by (Bookseller of the Blue Ridge) – See all my reviews

The City of Lost Children gets two platinum stars and also moves up to one of my top ten favorite films of all time. This is a confusing story, from beginning to end it expands your mind, reaches into your nightmares, and creates a story that is part Dark City and part of a novel called "The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman.

Yes, this film was everything and more. Not only visually beautiful, but the creative and symbolic meaning of the actions and words of the characters are "jaw dropping". Also, there are so many sub-stories in this film that reminded me of the style that Run Lola Run was done. This is the style that due to a connection of unrelated events something extraordinary happens. Let me give you an example from this film: There is a scene where the girl and One (Ron Pearlman-also a very biblical name) are trying to escape from the two women who want their jewels. There are events that lead from a dog finding its female companion to a boat almost hitting/splitting the women in half. Wild coincidences...imagine this times ten, and you have this film.

Keep in mind this is a French film with English subtitles, so you are not only getting the true voice of the film, but seeing the darkness of the cinematography without any American input. This really shows the purpose behind making this film, it really takes you to a new place so dark and dreamlike that you the viewer actually feel like you are in the picture itself. A movie about dreams and nightmares that takes place in a world of dreams and nightmares.

Overall, a heavily religious and symbolic film, The City of Lost Children should be put at the top of your foreign film list. Put it in your DVD player, open your mind, and be ready for a wild and intense ride!!

Grade: ***** out of *****


68 of 95 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
What a mess of a movie; awful streek53
Similar Movies PePPaRoz
How did Ron Perlman end up in this movie? bko376
Bio shock? talan72
This movie reminded me of Pan's Labyrinth Chiscokid88-1
One is Will Ferrel bigasabus
Discuss The City of Lost Children (1995) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page