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"The City of Lost Children" is unquestionably one of the most imaginative and exceptional films of the entire 90's decade and it pretty much represents an entire sub genre all by itself! It's a dark and often disturbing fairy-tale, but nevertheless magical and child-friendly. Since this is a film by Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, you simply know to expect a unique and surreal story (remember "Delicatessen"?) filled with extravagant characters and bizarre dreamscapes! It's enchanting to observe and quite challenging to follow, as there's always some ingenious gimmick to distract your attention from the main plot. I got hooked on it right from the GENIUS opening sequence in which a child's dream about Santa Claus slowly turns into an eerie nightmare. The action then cuts to the "main" character; the evil Krank who's unable to dream himself and hence kidnaps orphans in order to steal their dreams. Krank has an army of semi-human androids, one brother cloned six times, an uncanny midget-mother AND a malicious brain in a fish tank! Ron Perlman is a good guy for once! He portrays a simple-minded yet friendly strongman, assisted in the search for his abducted little brother by a witty young girl. "The City of Lost Children" is an amazingly energetic and vivid adventure and no self-respecting cinema fanatic can afford him/herself to miss it! It's funny, frightening, emotional and intelligent all at once. The decors are mesmerizing, the music is dazzling and the special effects are staggering. I can keep on mentioning good aspects, but it all comes down to one thing: watch this film!!! It's still regretfully underrated and we urgently need to change that!