The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus) (1995)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Not all of its many intriguing ideas are developed, but The City of Lost Children is an engrossing, disturbing, profoundly memorable experience.
The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus) Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as One
as Krank
as Miette
as The Diver/The Clones
as Marcello, the Flea Tamer
as Miss Bismuth
as Cyclops' Leader
as The Killer
as Octopus 1
as Octopus 2
as The Peeler
as The Ex-Acrobat
as Irvin's Voice
as Denree
as Bogdan
as Melchior
as Brutus
as Brother Ange-Joseph
as Lune
as Bottle
as Tadpole
as Jeannot
as Pipo
as Child
as Tattoo Artist
as Tattoo Artist's Wife
as Cyclops
as Barmaid
as Spainard
as Father Christmas
as Woman at her Window
as Captain
as Helmsman
as Double Clone
as Double Clone
as Double Clone
as Double Clone
as Double Clone
as Tied-up Guard
as Glazier
as Awake Tramp
as Soldier
as Soldier
as Stripper
as Stripper
as Stripper
as Stripper
as Stripper
as Stripper
as Winner
as Meitte (age 15)
as Miette (age 37)
as Miette (age 43)
as Miette (age 82)
as Krank (age 4)
as Krank (age 12)
as Krank (age 36)
as Krank (age 45)
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Schoolchild
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
as Baby
News & Interviews for The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus)
Critic Reviews for The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus)
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (11) | DVD (2)
Jeunet and Caro have distinctive signatures like nobody else's.
On visual terms alone, The City of Lost Children is something of a masterpiece, using state-of-the-art physical, optical and digital special effects to stretch cinematic boundaries.
Essentially, The City of Lost Children is a macabre fairy tale, and while its tentacled comic-book plot and freak-show cast narrow its appeal -- this isn't a work of any allegorical depth -- Caro and Jeunet have pulled off a cinematic delight.
The City of Lost Children gets so caught up in its own weirdness that it all but shuts out the viewer.
An empty triumph of overkill set design and weirdo casting.
Set in a wondrously seedy waterfront world populated with runaway children and grotesque, sinister adults, it glistens with dense fantasies, technological feats that make the catch-phrase "state of the art" seem antique.
Audience Reviews for The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus)
When a scientist kidnaps a brute's sister, he must join a group of urchins to retrieve her. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, one of our most imaginative and interesting filmmakers, throws all his cards on the table in this film. At each turn, Jeunet's world unfolds, and it's a dark vision in which a mad scientist can steal children's dreams, clones vie to be the Original, and a muscle-bound, monosyllabic tough finds his heart of gold. The film is an experience - a convoluted and occasionally hard-to-follow one, and I can imagine some people finding this film to be a collection of gimmicks, but I found it compelling and interesting. Overall, Jeunet is a unique filmmaker, and good or bad, his films are always interesting.
Super Reviewer
This lumpy steampunk dark fable is a perfect example of too much style over substance, offering us astonishing visuals, a beautiful soundtrack and spectacular plot devices (like the chain of events originated by a teardrop) but not so able to use all that in a more meaningful narrative.
Super Reviewer
02/01/2011 (DVD) A very strange but interesting watch. The performances are outstanding by both adults and children and what a weirdly but fantastic world. It was like a silver-screen flick with updated visual effects which made this film feel unusual and different. Wow. The setting is art, I mean the ideas and the artistry compliments the story giving it depth and darkness. What had me drawn was the background, it was very darkly, futuristic for its time and Gothic yet the people were from the 1950's so it seemed, very cool indeed. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea but it's definitely the type of tea that has an unusual blend that one learns to enjoy. The special effects were not overly done but it just had the right amount for taste and the clones just look so real, like they were real individuals rather than camera tricks, just so cool. It's definitely a strange one in my opinion but no doubt a watchable feature. I did notice that "Hell Boy" speaks in tongues? Did not know that.
Super Reviewer
The City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus) Quotes
| Miette: | When you're born in the gutter you end up in the port. |