The City of Lost Children
Encyclopedia
The City of Lost Children is a dystopia
n French fantasy/drama film
by Marc Caro
and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
released in 1995. The film is stylistically related to the previous and subsequent Jeunet films, Delicatessen
and Amélie
. It was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival
.
), kidnaps children to steal their dreams. Among them is the little brother, Denree (Joseph Lucien) , of carnival strongman One (Ron Perlman
), who sets out to rescue him with the help of a young, orphaned, thieves' guild member named Miette (Judith Vittet
).
based on 34 reviews, and a Metascore
of 73 on Metacritic. The film was a modest box office hit in France gaining 1,157,124 admissions; in North America it grossed $1,738,611, having had a limited run at a total of 36 theaters.
console and PC.
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n French fantasy/drama film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
by Marc Caro
Marc Caro
Marc Caro, born April 2, 1956, is a French filmmaker and cartoonist, best known for his co-directing projects with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The two of them met at a film festival in 1974, and directed three short and two feature length films together....
and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
-Life and career:Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne, Loire, France. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his longtime collaborator and...
released in 1995. The film is stylistically related to the previous and subsequent Jeunet films, Delicatessen
Delicatessen (film)
Delicatessen is a 1991 French black comedy film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, starring Dominique Pinon and Karin Viard. It is set in an apartment building in a post-apocalyptic France of an ambiguous time period. The story focuses on the tenants of the building and their desperate...
and Amélie
Amélie
Amélie is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre...
. It was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival
1995 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Jeanne Moreau *Gianni Amelio *Jean-Claude Brialy *Nadine Gordimer *Gaston Kabore *Michele-Ray Gavras *Emilio Garcia Riera *Philippe Rousselot *John Waters...
.
Plot
A mad scientist, Krank (Daniel EmilforkDaniel Emilfork
Daniel Emilfork-Berenstein was a Chilean stage and film actor.Emilfork was born in Providencia, Chile after his Jewish socialist parents from Kiev fled a pogrom in Odessa...
), kidnaps children to steal their dreams. Among them is the little brother, Denree (Joseph Lucien) , of carnival strongman One (Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
), who sets out to rescue him with the help of a young, orphaned, thieves' guild member named Miette (Judith Vittet
Judith Vittet
Judith Vittet is a French actress who played "Miette" in La Cité des enfants perdus .Prior to her role as Miette, played Lili in Personne ne m'aime . She also had roles in Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud and K .-External links:...
).
Cast
- Ron PerlmanRon PerlmanRonald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
as One - Joseph Lucien as Denree
- Daniel EmilforkDaniel EmilforkDaniel Emilfork-Berenstein was a Chilean stage and film actor.Emilfork was born in Providencia, Chile after his Jewish socialist parents from Kiev fled a pogrom in Odessa...
as Krank - Judith VittetJudith VittetJudith Vittet is a French actress who played "Miette" in La Cité des enfants perdus .Prior to her role as Miette, played Lili in Personne ne m'aime . She also had roles in Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud and K .-External links:...
as Miette - Dominique PinonDominique PinonDominique Pinon is a French actor whose most famous roles have been in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Jacques Beineix. In the theatre, he has appeared in the plays of Gildas Bourdet, Jorge Lavelli and Valère Novarina...
as the diver - Jean-Claude DreyfusJean-Claude DreyfusJean-Claude Dreyfus is a French actor. He began his career in film acting in 1973 in the film Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard. Dreyfus is notable for his portrayal of a butcher in the black comedy Delicatessen by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet...
as Marcello - RufusRufus (actor)Rufus is the stage name of Italo-French actor Jacques Narcy. He is also called Zio Vittorio...
as Peeler - Ticky HolgadoTicky HolgadoTicky Holgado , pseudonym of Joseph Holgado, was a French actor and a frequent collaborator with Jean-Pierre Jeunet....
as Ex-acrobat - Marc CaroMarc CaroMarc Caro, born April 2, 1956, is a French filmmaker and cartoonist, best known for his co-directing projects with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The two of them met at a film festival in 1974, and directed three short and two feature length films together....
as Brother Ange-Joseph - Jean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
as L'oncle Irvin (voice) - Mathieu KassovitzMathieu KassovitzMathieu Kassovitz is a French director, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for his Cannes-winning drama La Haine. Kassovitz is also the founder of MNP Entreprise, a film production company....
as Man on the street (uncredited) - Geneviève BrunetGenevieve BrunetGenevieve Robic-Brunet is a retired road racing cyclist from Canada, who represented Canada at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984. Training in New Mexico and then Colorado, the resident of Pierrefonds, Quebec ended up in 22nd and 4th place in the women's olympic individual road...
as la Pieuvre - Odile Mallet as la Pieuvre
Reception
The film currently holds a 82% fresh rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 34 reviews, and a Metascore
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
of 73 on Metacritic. The film was a modest box office hit in France gaining 1,157,124 admissions; in North America it grossed $1,738,611, having had a limited run at a total of 36 theaters.
Video game
A video game based on the film was released in the US and in parts of Europe for the PlayStationPlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
console and PC.