The City of Lost Children (1995)
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The City of Lost Children Movie Review
The City of Lost Children is a 1995 French fantasy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Ron Perlman. It’s an uneven, but intriguing movie.
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“When you’re born in the gutter,
you end up in the port“
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As is the case with this director’s films, this one is also the case of style over substance. Yes, the movie has an intriguing premise of an old man who uses children’s dreams to prolong his life more. But they never really gave us any statement or message beyond that as the film just settled to tell its tale in a simple, straightforward and visually oriented way.
Ron Perlman as One is pretty good and very likable. Miette is also endearing and the relationship between the two is wonderful. Krank is a goofy, cartoony, but very effective villain. And as for his various creatures, I loved all of them including the brain and those man children. The highlights are the two Siamese sisters who are so funny and a lot of fun. That flea was also very interesting and the role of dogs in the film is pretty good.
It takes its time to get there owing to a slow start, but the second half is the standout with a bunch of memorable sequences such as that very amusing ending as well as the final confrontation with Krank. The movie is not well paced, but is mostly very entertaining and quite intriguing.
The City of Lost Children is basically a French movie with some del Toro sensibilities as it’s such a dark, creepy and R-rated fairy tale. But in essence, it is a typical French movie with over-the-top and goofy humor and characters and that sometimes works, but at times it was too weird. The movie has a very uneven quality to it, but I liked it more than I disliked it.
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The technical aspects are naturally terrific. The direction is so strong, the acting is pretty solid and the film is well scored too. The visual effects, the production design and especially those intriguing sets really add to the movie’s darker atmosphere which worked stupendously. It is a fairy tale for adults and mostly a successful one.
The City of Lost Children definitely is uneven in quality as some scenes work, but some don’t. It isn’t paced well and it’s at times too weird. However, it mostly succeeds as this typically French film imbued with some del Toro sensibilities leading to a very dark fairy tale. It has some fantastic sequences and although a style over substance, its style is amazing thanks to terrific sets, intriguing world and memorable creatures.
