THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN Movie Review

La Cite des Enfants Perdus

In one of the coolest high-concept plots in the history of fantasy films, a fiendish scientist named Krank—who lacks the ability to dream—kidnaps innocent children to steal their nocturnal imaginings. France's Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, The Fifth Element) have dreamed up a darkly dazzling visual wonderland that suggests some of the more terrifying sequences of Disney's animated classics come to life. Ron Perlman plays the strongman/hero who sets out to destroy this evil conspiracy when his younger brother becomes one of Krank's victims. While the movie's narrative thrust never achieves the power of its visual scheme, there are enough memorable sights—such as the opening sequence of a parade of evil Santa Clauses (cloned henchmen of Krank's) coming down the chimney to whisk away an unsuspecting child—to make the picture reverberate long afterward.

NEXT STOP … Delicatessen, Pinocchio, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

1995 (R) 114m/C FR Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Joseph Lucien, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon, Jean Claude Dreyfus, Odile Mallet, Genevieve Brunet, Mireille Mosse; D: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro; W: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, Gilles Adrien; C: Darius Khondji; M: Angelo Badalamenti; V: Jean-Louis Trintignant. Cesar Awards '96: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Nominations: Cesar Awards '96: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Score; Independent Spirit Awards '96: Best Foreign Film. VHS, LV, Closed Caption COL