Review: City of Lost Children (1995)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, though only the creator of a handful of films, is one of my favorite writer/directors of all time.  In his second film, City of Lost Children he demonstrates this well.  It was co-written by Gilles Adrien and co-directed with Marc Caro, but the end result is a piece of cinema magic that only Jeunet’s presence could have created.  He uses his expertise to craft fantastic visions that come to life in strange and compelling ways upon the movie screen.  He is known for being behind other such well-known films as Delicatessen (1991) and Amelie (2001).

City of Lost Children follows two tales, one concerning the mad scientist Krank as he kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams and the other revolving around One (Ron Perlman) as he seeks out his little brother, who has been kidnapped by Krank.  Krank’s entourage consists of a group of six clones (played by consistently recurring actor, 

Dominique Pinon) who aren’t quite what they should be in the brains department.

One joins forces with an orphan by the name of Miette to find and free his brother, running into all sorts of strange and surreal obstacles along the way.   The logic that City of Lost Children follows is a science fiction fairy-tale in nature, with little attempt for realism.  That is part of the movie’s charm, of course, though can be confusing to first-time viewers.  This film is the first Jean-Pierre Jeunet creation that I personally ever saw, and though it did leave me a little bit confused, I ended up becoming a life-time fan of all his works.

There are so many subtleties in the film that it definitely requires a second and third viewing in order to catch all the social commentary that’s going on below the surface.  Those who have not seen City of Lost Children should give it a try, and those that have seen it before should give it another go.