La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Gilles Adrien (writer) &
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (writer) ...

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Where happily ever after is just a dream.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Children | Dream | Aging | Circus | Orphan

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Ron Perlman	...	One
Daniel Emilfork	...	Krank
Judith Vittet	...	Miette
Dominique Pinon	...	le scaphandrier / les clones
Jean-Claude Dreyfus	...	Marcello
Geneviève Brunet	...	la Pieuvre
Odile Mallet	...	la Pieuvre
Mireille Mossé	...	Mademoiselle Bismuth
Serge Merlin	...	Gabriel Marie (Cyclops Leader)
Rufus	...	Peeler
Ticky Holgado	...	Ex-acrobat
Joseph Lucien	...	Denree
Mapi Galán	...	Lune
Briac Barthélémy	...	Bottle
Pierre-Quentin Faesch	...	Pipo

Also Known As:

The City of Lost Children (UK) (USA)
Die Stadt der verlorenen Kinder (Germany)
La ciudad de los niños perdidos (Spain)
La ciutat dels nens perduts (Spain: Catalan title) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing and grotesque images of violence and menace.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France | Germany | Spain

Language:

French | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Studios 91 Arpajon, Saint-Germain-les-Arpajon, Essonne, France

Company:

Club d'Investissement Média

Trivia:

Opening film at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

Quotes:

Miette: When you're born in the gutter you end up in the port.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hostel (2005)

Soundtrack:

Serenade Gouden Hart

A Surrealistic, Dark and Bizarre Fairytale

In a surrealistic and bizarre society, children have been abducted by a mad and evil scientist, Krank (D. Emilfork), who wants to steal their dreams and stop and reverse his accelerated aging process. When the gang of Cyclops kidnap Denree (Joseph Lucien), the little brother of the former whale hunter One (Ron Perlman), he is helped by the young street orphan girl Miette (Judith Vittet), who steals for the Siamese Pieuvre (Geneviève Brunet & Odille Mallet), to reach the platform where Krank leaves with his cloned dwarf wife Mademoiselle Bismuth (Mireille Moissé), his six cloned sons (Dominique Pinon) and a brain, and rescue the children.

"La Cité des Enfants Perdus" is a mesmerizing movie, with one of the most beautiful cinematography and music score of the cinema history. This surrealistic, dark and bizarre fairytale is almost perfect, and my only restriction is the quite confused screenplay. When I saw this movie for the first time in 1995, I was impressed with the stunning performance of the young actress Judith Vittet and I expected that she would become a star, but eleven years later I have just read in IMDb that she quitted her promising career and now she is graduated in Economics Science. The soundtrack of Angelo Badalamenti is another wonderful work of this outstanding composer. I love the sequence that begins with the tear of Miette and ends with the ship hitting the harbor. I am also impressed with some sick twisted-minded persons that can see pedophilia in the beautiful relationship of One and Miette. I have this movie on VHS, but I have just bought the recently released DVD, and I do not regret, since this film deserves the better image and sound of the DVD. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Ladrão de Sonhos" ("Thief of Dreams")