La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

Directors:

Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

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

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:

Dream | Children | Aging | Nightmare | 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
Alexis Pivot	...	Tadpole
Léo Rubion	...	Jeannot
Guillaume Billod-Morel	...	Child
François Hadji-Lazaro	...	Killer
Dominique Bettenfeld	...	Bogdan
Lotfi Yahya Jedidi	...	Melchior (as Lotfi)
Thierry Gibault	...	Brutus
Marc Caro	...	Brother Ange-Joseph
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	L'oncle Irvin (voice)
Ham-Chau Luong	...	Tattoo Artist
Bezak	...	Helmsman
Thomas Hong-Maï	...	Tattoo Artist's Wife
Frankie Pain	...	Barmaid (as Frankie)
René Pivot	...	Glazier
Daniel Adric	...	Cyclops
Christophe Salengro	...	Soldier
René Marquant	...	Captain
Enrique Villanueva	...	Spainard
Dominique Chevalier	...	Tied-up Guard (as Dominique)
Cris Huerta	...	Father (as Chris Huerta)
Lorella Cravotta	...	Woman at her
Michel Smolianoff	...	Awake Tramp
Éric Houzelot	...	Soldier
Lili Cognard	...	Winner
Angélique Philibert	...	Stripper
Marie Piémontèse	...	Stripper
Antoinette Dias	...	Stripper
Zak Russomanno	...	Stripper
Djamila Bouda	...	Stripper
Philippe Beautier	...	Double Clones
Lauren Geoffroy	...	Stripper
Marc Amyot	...	Double Clones #2
Jean-Philippe Labadie	...	Double Clones
Cyril Aubin	...	Double Clones #4
Raphaèle Bouchard	...	Miette, age
Bruno Journée	...	Double Clones #5
Jérémie Freund	...	Krank, age 12
Babeth Etienne	...	Miette, age 37
Joris Geneste	...	Krank, age 36
Rachel Boulenger	...	Miette, age 43
Michel Motu	...	Krank, age 45
Nane Germon	...	Miette, age 82
Julie Bernard	...	Child
Valentin Simonet	...	Child
Eglantine Blanckaert	...	Schoolchild
Gaëtan Bouyala	...	Schoolchild
Mickael Bussinger	...	Schoolchild
Jonathan Gatinois	...	Schoolchild
Joshka Kaufmann	...	Schoolchild
Morgan Mariac	...	Schoolchild
Caroline Marsily	...	Schoolchild
Geoffroy Morange	...	Schoolchild
Sébastien Thaissart	...	Schoolchild
Charlotte Bienfait	...	Baby
Camille Dufeu	...	Baby
Robinson Fouille	...	Baby
Alysia Hoffeurt	...	Baby
Sandy Kontargyris	...	Baby
Andrew Laupen	...	Baby
Théo Madueno	...	Baby
Arthur Mazet	...	Baby
Fackry M'Saidie	...	Baby
Gabriel Pierre	...	Baby
Bérangère Pivot	...	Baby
Charlotte Ribaud-Chevrey	...	Baby
Laura Robert	...	Baby
Caroline Rochand	...	Baby
Carolane Yvan	...	Baby
Margot Tostivint	...	Baby
Buster Verbraeken	...	Krank, age 4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Man on the street (uncredited)

Directed by
Marc Caro
Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writing credits
Gilles Adrien		(writer) &
Jean-Pierre Jeunet		(writer) &
Marc Caro		(writer)
Gilles Adrien		(dialogue)
Guillaume Laurant		(additional dialogue) &
Jean-Pierre Jeunet		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Félicie Dutertre	....	producer
María Victoria Hebrero	....	producer
José Luis Lopez	....	producer
Arlette Mas	....	producer
Svetlana Novak	....	producer
Claudie Ossard	....	producer
Elías Querejeta	....	co-producer
François Rabes	....	producer

Original Music by
Angelo Badalamenti

Cinematography by
Darius Khondji

Film Editing by
Hervé Schneid		(as Herve Schneid)

Casting by
Pierre-Jacques Bénichou

Production Design by
Marc Caro
Jean Rabasse

Art Direction by
Jean Rabasse

Set Decoration by
Aline Bonetto
Georges Mougine
Denis Ozenne

Costume Design by
Jean-Paul Gaultier

Makeup Department
Beya Gasmi	....	assistant hair stylist
Benoît Lestang	....	makeup artist (as Benoit Lestang)
John Nollet	....	hair stylist (as Jean Nollet)
Stéphanie Selva	....	makeup artist (as Stephanie Selva)
Nathalie Tissier	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Primitivo Álvaro	....	unit manager
Jean-Jacques Damiani	....	unit manager
Isabelle Morax	....	post-production supervisor
Edith Pommerol	....	unit manager
Fabien Pondevaux	....	assistant production manager
Gilles Saulnier	....	unit manager
Daniel Szuster	....	production manager
Bruno Vignier	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Grégoire Barachin	....	second assistant director
Christophe Douchand	....	first assistant director
Jean-Marc Tostivint	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Marc Adou	....	painter
Dominique Antraygues	....	painter
Philippe Auclaire	....	chief
Gilles Baillot	....	carpenter
Olivier Barbier	....	constructor
Claude Baron	....	carpenter
Paul Bastide	....	paint foreman
Brigitte Baudet	....	sculptor
Franck Benezech	....	first assistant art
Arnaud Benezit	....	constructor
François Bernard	....	sculptor
Valerie Berthoux	....	model maker
François Billy	....	constructor
Eric Blanchet	....	art department
Jean-Jacques Blanlot	....	constructor
Bernard Boivin	....	chief constructor
Bernard Bordet	....	staff carpenter
Chantal Bouchard	....	painter
Philippe Boucheron	....	constructor
George Boudic	....	carpenter (as Georges Boudic)
Marc Brava	....	art department trainee
Alain Briend	....	art department
Claire Briet	....	art department
Bernard Brunet	....	art department
Richard Bruyere	....	staffer
Brigitte Cardinal	....	sculptor
Marc Caro	....	artistic director
Jean-Louis Caron	....	constructor
Denis Chaboissier	....	painter
Marie Chapuis	....	painter
Jean-Michel Chartier	....	chief
Alain Chaudet	....	carpenter
Juliette Cheneau	....	art department
Tranquillo Cimenti	....	carpenter
Daniel Clerici	....	carpenter
Bernard Coispel	....	chief carpenter
Pierre Conejero	....	constructor
Dominique Contesso	....	painter
Thierry Cottin	....	carpenter
Michel Courtemanche	....	constructor
Jean-Pierre Delettre	....	milling
Philippe Demante	....	constructor
Gil Demezzo	....	constructor
Henri Demonio	....	constructor
Marie Desforge	....	chief painter
Sylvain Despretz	....	production
Xavier Dubech	....	constructor
Pierre Duboisberranger	....	art
Fabien Dufour	....	art department
Michel Dupont	....	constructor
Michele Elsair	....	draughtsman
Fabien Esnard-Lacombe	....	tattoo
Vincent Febrinon	....	carpenter
Dominique Filliatreau	....	metal
Marc Fivel	....	draughtsman
Claude Forget	....	carpenter
Corinne Forget	....	sculptor
Olivier Foucher	....	carpenter
Mr. Fournier-Dencott	....	cyclop
Herve Gavillet	....	metal worker
Vincent Gazier	....	sculptor
Dominique Giron	....	constructor
Antonio Grassi	....	carpenter
Christian Guillebaud	....	constructor
Jean-Claude Guilleman	....	metal
Michel Guivet	....	constructor
Philippe Harlez	....	draughtsman
Yann Haugomat	....	model maker
Christophe Hervé	....	painter
Jean-François Huet	....	constructor
Marie-Noelle Humbert	....	painter
Emmanuel Jaffre	....	constructor
Bruno Jaunay	....	constructor
Mathieu Junot	....	property master
Gerard Kadyszewski	....	metal worker
Gilbert Kadyszewski	....	metal worker
Catherine Keller	....	constructor
Jean Labille	....	metal worker
Catherine Lafferriere-Weihtzem	....	sculptor
Jean-Louis Lebreton	....	sculptor
Marie Baduel Legarrec	....	sculptor
Pierre Le Garrec	....	model maker
Philippe Legrand	....	painter
Loïc Le Moigne	....	painter
Karine Lemonnier	....	painter
Eric Levavasseur	....	constructor
Franck Levi	....	constructor
Patrick Loret	....	painter
Yannick Luce	....	art department
Veronique Malaval	....	sculptor
Anne Marchand	....	painter
Frédéric Marchand	....	constructor
Christian Marrot	....	metal worker
Antoine Martial	....	milling cutter
Michel Masson	....	painter
Roger Mattei	....	painter
Antonio Matterson	....	constructor
Fabrice Maux	....	painter
Philippe Meynard	....	chief painter
Thierry Michaud	....	assistant set
Patrick Milizia	....	constructor
Franck Miniconi	....	on-set painter
Sylvie Mitault	....	painter
Igor Mollet	....	carpenter
Manuel Mougin	....	set propman
Philippe Moutard	....	painter
Enes Muftic	....	draughtsman
Philippe Naert	....	carpenter
Joel Nicolas	....	carpenter
David Nouyrit	....	painter
Philippe Pallut	....	carpenter
Jacques Pellissier	....	ripper
Marcel Perez	....	carpenter
François Pernod	....	carpenter
Claude Perry	....	painter
Eric Pigoy	....	carpenter
Enrico Pittiglio	....	painter
Claude Poulain	....	art department
Franck Proix	....	painter
Christian Rivet	....	constructor
Marie Rulens Dit Rosier	....	carpenter
François Roux	....	sculptor
Jean-Michel Rudrauf	....	painter
Maryse Saint-Maur	....	painter
Vianney Santrot	....	carpenter
Franck Scala	....	metal worker
Martina Seeber	....	painter
Bertrand Seitz	....	first assistant art
Philippe Senie	....	chief constructor
Yann Sibiril	....	carpenter
Gérard Simonet	....	constructor
Carole Steinberger	....	painter
Eckehard Stritzke	....	constructor
Catherine Tanga	....	art department
Michel Tardif	....	constructor
Bertrand Terreyre	....	constructor
Christophe Thiollier	....	second
Jean-Yves Thoreau	....	metal worker
Michel Toubkis	....	carpenter
Jean-Jacques Vassal	....	constructor
Pascal Vedel	....	second assistant art
Nicole Veilhan	....	painter
Martine Veille	....	painter
Eric Vermeil	....	chief painter
Stephane Vuigner	....	metal worker
Pierre-Marie Ziegler	....	painter

Sound Department
Vincent Arnardi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vincent Arnardi	....	sound supervisor
Vianney Aube	....	adr editor
Emmanuel Augeard	....	adr editor
Aïlo Auguste-Judith		(as Aïlo)
Marc Caro	....	sound effects
Pierre Excoffier	....	sound (as Pierre)
Vincent Guillon	....	sound editor
Jean-Pierre Halbwachs	....	sound designer
Jean-Pierre Halbwachs	....	sound editor
Jean-Pierre Halbwachs	....	sound
Gérard Hardy	....	sound editor (as Gerard Hardy)
Laurent Kossayan	....	sound effects (as Laurent)
Franck Lebon	....	sound effects
Thierry Lebon	....	sound mixer
Jean-Louis Lebras	....	adr boom operator
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	foley artist
Jacques Lévy		(as Jacques Levy)
Françoise Maulny	....	post-synchronization (as Francoise)
Mario Melchiorri	....	assistant foley artist
Bruno Mercere	....	sound effects
Laurent Zeilig	....	boom operator
Cyrille Zoukhotine		(as Cyrille)

Special Effects by
Philippe Alleton	....	first special effects artist
Jean-Baptiste Bonetto	....	special effects
Philippe Boulenouar	....	metalworker
Yves Domenjoud	....	special effects
Delphine Doreau	....	special effects (as Delphine Coffin)
Denis Gastou	....	sculptor
Olivier Gleyze	....	special effects
Pierre-Paul Jayne	....	sculptor
Lionel Mathis	....	second special effects artist
Pascal Molina	....	animatronics
Jean-Christophe Spadaccini	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Jérôme Arthuis	....	digitalization
Xavier Bec	....	researcher
Pierre Buffin	....	computer animator
Alain Carsoux	....	digital compositing
Jean-Marc Castera	....	3D modeler and animator
Seb Caudron	....	digital artist (as Sebastien Caudron)
Laurent Clavier	....	researcher
Stéphane Cros	....	researcher
Stéphane Cros	....	software programmer
Stephane Deverly	....	researcher
Delphine Domer	....	set supervisor
Delphine Domer	....	visual effects production
Thomas Duval	....	digital compositing
Marc Jouveneau	....	motion control
Laure Lacroix	....	technical
Arnon Manor	....	3D modeler and animator: BUF
Pitof	....	digital visual effects director
Philippe Rebours	....	researcher
Christophe Richard	....	digital artist
Antoine Simkine	....	visual effects executive producer: Duboi
Jean-Clement Soret	....	telecinema
Frederic Soumagnas	....	3D modeler
Frederic Soumagnas	....	digital artist
Olivier Tubach	....	researcher
Jean-Marie Vives	....	digital matte artist
Colin Watkinson	....	motion control
Simon Weisse	....	visual effects miniatures
Veronique Zylberfain	....	graphic designer
Jean-Christophe Boue	....	digital artist (uncredited)
Rip Hampton O'Neil	....	director of reseach and development: DuboiColor (uncredited)

Stunts
Eric Baronne	....	stunts
Jean-Claude Braquet	....	stunts
Rémi Canaple	....	assistant stunts
Patrick Cauderlier	....	stunt coordinator
Pascaline Girardot	....	stunts
Christian Hening		(as Christian)
Michel Julienne	....	stunts
Marcel Labbaye	....	stunts
Frederick Renard	....	stunts
Catherine Robert	....	stunts
Christophe Roblin	....	stunts
Philippe Vittoriani	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Michel Amathieu	....	director of photography: additional photography
Adrien Angliviel	....	first assistant camera (as Adrien)
Franck Barrault	....	electrician
Christophe Beaucarne	....	assistant camera
Vincent Blasco	....	grip: second unit
Sophie Cadet	....	assistant camera
Eric Caro	....	set photographer
Isabelle Casez	....	assistant camera
Johanne Debas	....	assistant camera
Johanne Debas	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Philippe Depardieu	....	electrician
Robert Dona	....	grip
Bruno Dubet	....	key grip
Thierry Fonteny	....	grip
Bernard Gemähling	....	electrician (as Bernard)
Marc Koninckx	....	Steadicam operator
Marc Koninckx	....	camera operator
Philippe Le Sourd	....	second assistant camera (as Philippe)
Agnès Letessier	....	assistant camera
Eric Monin	....	electrician
Mikael Monod	....	electrician
Jean-Hugues Oppel	....	assistant camera
Pascal Pajaud	....	gaffer
Michel Revest	....	assistant camera
Luc Rondeau	....	electrician
Michel Sabourdy	....	electrician
Etienne Saldés	....	grip
Roland Savoye	....	underwater camera operator
Jean-Michel Vincent	....	grip
Yorgo Voyagis	....	key grip (as Yorgo Voyatzis)

Animation Department
Eric Frion	....	tracer
Xavier Miclet	....	tracer
Michel Risse	....	tracer
Tom Wiggins	....	tracer

Casting Department
Gabrielle Beroff	....	casting assistant (as Gabriel Beroff)
Nathaniele Esther	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Madeline Fontaine	....	head costumer
Janet Latimer	....	dresser

Editorial Department
Laure Auger-Robert	....	post-production secretary
Katia Besimensky	....	assistant editor
Beatriz Chamón	....	assistant film editor
Colette Kassabian	....	negative cutter
Yvan Lucas	....	color timer
Nacho Ruiz Capillas	....	editor: Spain

Music Department
Andrew Barrett	....	orchestrator
Stepán Konícek	....	head of orchestra
Thierry Lebon	....	music mixer
René Taquet	....	musical consultant
Jirí Zobac	....	music engineer

Transportation Department
Yvon Fremy	....	driver: art department

Other crew
Aude Boedec	....	production secretary
Marc Bruckert	....	titles: Le Village
Juliette Caron	....	set interpreter
Alexandre Cauderlier	....	underwater
Gilles Caussade	....	financial director
Noel Chainbaux	....	trainee
Guillaume Favreau	....	assistant manager
Laurent Flaesch	....	assistant animal trainer
Michel Flaesch	....	animal trainer
Florence Magna-Schneid	....	continuity
Carlos de Muns	....	international production coordinator
Sylvain Surble	....	catering: Cantine de
Christian Valsamidis	....	legal
Marie-Laure Villa	....	location manager
Aruna Villiers	....	script supervisor
Anne Wermelinger	....	script
Sylvie Zadjner	....	location manager (as Sylvie Zajdner)

Thanks
Simona Benzakein	....	thanks: Presse
Michel Doursoux	....	thanks
Véronique Melery	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Club d'Investissement Média
• Eurimages
• Studio Image
• Canal+ España
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Cofimage 4
• Cofimage 5
• Constellation
• Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.
• France 3 Cinéma
• Lumière Pictures
• Ossane
• Phoenix Images
• Procirep
• Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne
• Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft (TMG)
• Televisión Española (TVE)
• Victoires Productions

Distributors

• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (1995) (France) (theatrical)
• Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner (1995) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (1995) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Lumière Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Manga Films
• Siren Visual Entertainment (1995) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (????) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• BUF
• Duboi
• Duran Duboi
• Les Versaillais

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:

The Octopus are conjoined twins joined at the leg, but the actresses who played them are not. A prosthetic third leg was designed and fitted to the actresses, but they could not walk while wearing it. This is why the Octopus sisters do not walk in any shot of their whole body.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): 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.

Quotes:

Clone: C'est moi l'original! C'est moi!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Starz Inside: Fashion in Film (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Serenade Gouden Hart

M. Perlman parle francais aussi!

"City of Lost Children" is a beautifully-realized if derivative dark fantasy in which a mad scientist named Krank, aided by a half-dozen clones, a midget woman, and a brain in a tank, abducts children to his offshore lab so he can steal their dreams. Seems he's unable to have any of his own. A sideshow strongman, played by a radiantly fit Ron Perlman, goes in search of his little brother, who has been taken by Krank's goons. Perlman, in another of his growing gallery of bizarre roles, is a perfect example of why I like character actors better than big-name stars. And how many languages does he speak, anyway? French here, Spanish (and English, of course) in "Cronos"; polyglot in "The Name of the Rose"; what next?

The strongman, named One, enlists the aid of Miette, a homeless, streetwise girl who, along with her fellow urchins, is part of a ring of thieves employed by a pair of sinister female Siamese twins named the Octopus. (Watch carefully how these evil twins smoke a cigarette. There are more weird characters per square inch in this flick than anywhere else outside a Heironymus Bosch painting.) Miette is played by Judith Villet, whose gonna-be-a-great-beauty looks, her air of intelligence and experience beyond her years, make her a sort of Gallic Natalie Portman.

Anyway, that's the plot: rescue little brother from the mad doctor. The images are the thing: with its rendering of a bleak, low-tech retro-future, "City" looks more like a Terry Gilliam movie than "Twelve Monkeys" does! And it slyly slips in ideas and images from other sources, to good effect: Krank himself is as much of the mad-doctor stereotype as is the character in "The Nightmare Before Christmas"; his outlandish electro-headgear is similar to that used in Disney's "Merlin Jones"; a nightmare on the loose swoops low along the ground through streets and alleys as a trail of green mist, improving on a similar image from "Bram Stoker's Dracula"; there's a confrontation in dreamland a la the "Elm Street" series; and while the idea of a brain in a tank isn't a new one, this is the first benign one I've ever seen. Familiar or not--and I'm thinking also of "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T"--"City of Lost Children" is still engaging, enjoyably weird, fantastic and funny, helped greatly by the fact that One and Miette are so endearing. The pace is a tad slower than it might have been. But this is, after all, a French movie.