The City of Lost Children

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source: The City of Lost Children

You could watch this film backwards and it would still make just as much sense. I watched the first ten minutes with avid interest - the lurid colours, the characters and the sets and props all seemed fantastically wonderful. However, there is no sense of progression or development, and theres no discernable plot or character analysis. Admittedly, there's a lot of imagination gone into the sets and the props, but unfortunately the reliance on these becomes too great and they gradually overwhealm the film until, finally, it disappears up it's own magical and fantasy-world backside.

Weakest film from the lovely duo directors, but the spirit,the imagination and the beautiful colours are there.The film has pace and scenario problems but it's still a trip.

That was the thought on my mind for all of 2 seconds when I first watched "The City of Lost Children". The question lay forgotten as I was immersed in a dark, incredible fantasy. Even without understanding the dialogue the imagery alone makes this film a MUST see. This nightmarish ancient-tech world immediately captures the viewer. An exquisitely constructed plot combines with brilliant acting and amazingly constructed props to offer an experience you will never forget.

Oliver Twist-ian story of children trained and used to be clepto's. With a giant who protects them. We all would do well with a giant Ron Perlman protecting us. The story is a fantasy mixed with weird euro humor. This movie was pre steam punk, a genre that stole much of its styling from this movie and many others. The soundtrack by Angelo Badalmenti is a must listen on its own. Angelo has worked alot with David Lynch creating haunting eeirie audio backdrops. The costume design by Jean-Paul Gaultier is beyond wanting every sweater. Gaultier made the characters come to life with this collection.

One of the weirdest movies I have seen. Right at the beginning, I already felt a creepy and uncomfortable vibe from the characters and the looks. There were a goofy sextuplet and a twin that acted like they were the left and right hemisphere of the brain. The main villain looked creepy, and the headshot made him even weirder. Overall, it's a bizarre and tripping experience. My biggest problems were that the movie was very slow and the weirdness did not help making this movie engaging. 6.5/10.

This is an extremely off-beat film. I found it very rich and inventive. I think fans of "Brazil" would enjoy it. It's like an old fairy tale, the kind where kids actually did get eaten.

Stunning, disturbing, funny & engrossing this movie often seem to defy description. I first saw it without subtitles & was so enthralled that I went away & learnt French! You may not like it though, as it ploughs it's own furrow using none of the preconceptions of Hollywood & as for the story, well... I'll leave that up to you to decide. The look & feel of the film is very, very dark, twisted, nighmarish, the product of a fevered mind. This is a world that you could almost believe was one step away from hell. The acting is superb, with Ron Perlman (he of Vincent in the TV series Beauty & the Beast) copes well with the French script & the children are impish, tinged with a little evil. Fortunately none of them ever gives us a Hollywood "cute kid" routine. All in all, for me, top marks for what must be one of the classics of French cinema, indeed of world cinema. Prepare to be stunned.

Though it is very aesthetically impressive with much effort put in to the visual extravagances, the narrative is rather erratic. While I like the movie, parts of the plot are poorly explained and leave the viewer to surmise certain points on their own. In some respects, it is refreshing to have dystopian films that don't over-explain things, but in such a strange and inexplicable narrative world, a few moments of exposition would have been welcome. The interesting qualities of the film lies in the plot's meanderus way of telling the stories without any rush to reach its conclusion, the mildest of surrealism in a way.