The City of Lost Children (20th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]

A must see

I think of this as my all time favorite movie. It's a French movie, and it is truly bizarre. It has both a darkness and an odd quirky sense of humor about itself that's hard to describe. Wonderful and imaginative story that takes you deep into another world.

Krank is an evil, created being who uses the Cyclops to kidnap children for him so that he can steal their dreams. Intrigued yet? One is the strongman at a street sideshow, who has adopted a street urchin as his younger brother, Denree. One is not much more than an adult child himself, having a simple brain, and when Denree is taken by the Cyclops, One must find him.One finds himself tangled up with a band of street kids, thieves and pickpockets, who are enslaved by Siamese twins named la Pieuvre. He manages to enlist the help of Miette, one of the older girls in the gang. If you boiled the movie down to basics, it would be One and Miette looking for Denree, but City Of Lost Children is not a simple movie.'City' is a complex and sometimes confusing film, but is so richly done and bizarrely plotted that it is entertainment at its surreal finest. Krank (Daniel Emilfork) was created, along with his 'brother', Irvin, who is nothing more than a brain in a green tinged fishtank. His 'mother' is a midget, and his 'brothers', five clones (all played by talented Dominique Pinon) wait on him hand and foot. Krank and his strange entourage live on a dark and creepy platform out in the ocean, surrounded by mines that protect them.Back in the squalor of the city, One and Miette are pursued by the greedy la Pieuvre, who winds out utilizing the resources from her old circus days, a worn out opium addict with an amazing flea circus. His fleas are trained to inject a poison into targets, the fluid being activated when an old hand-cranked music box is played. And Miette winds out meeting a strange, fanatical man who lives underwater, salvaging treasures from the sea floor.There are many, many fantastical things for you to see in this film, but I have a few words of caution before you begin. First of all, this is a French film, and the dialogue is French. I strongly recommend watching the movie in the original dialogue with English subtitles, rather than watching the dubbed version. You will loose a lot of emotion in the inadequately dubbed voices.Don't expect feats of FX either. City Of Lost Children has the feel of a play, using expert sets and backdrops, and winds out being a visually stunning treat with good, old fashioned sets rather than a lot of CGI. The costumes are marvelous, the photography is stunning (note: Daniel Emilfork is rather evil looking anyway, with his bald head, large nose, and large teeth, but the camera is utilized in a curved view to make him even more menacing) but the script is a little bit disjointed. All of these features combined mark a distinctive feel of bizarreness throughout the entire film.Also to note, there are a couple of amazing sequences in the film, one in which we follow the events caused by a single teardrop, and another where we follow the journey of a flea.City Of Lost Children is a film only for those who enjoy a taste of the bizarre, love to stroke their fingers down the spine of the surreal, and believe that off-the-wall is a livable realm. If this is you, then you will love this film as much as I did. Enjoy!

The movie itself is one of my favorites and I had watched it previously, but never got around to buying a physical copy of it. When I came across this version of the Blu-Ray with the directory's commentary, I ordered it.The commentary wasn't the best as far as extras go, and I'm saying that as a huge fan of Ron Perlman, his interviews included. The directory didn't seem to have much to say as far as the thought process behind the movie. Seemed a bit random in his choices. Which may just be the way he expressed, especially given that English isn't his first language, so I don't think it takes away from the movie itself, but was just a bit disheartening to hear on the directory's commentary.It's still nice to have a Blu-Ray copy which is good quality and the movie itself is still a special one.

This film  The City Of Lost Children  by directors Jeunet & Caro is not easy to understand, but it IS very good. I preferred listening to the original French language audio track because the inflections and voices of the named actors is much better in the original language than it is in the voices of the dubbed version, but they also are good, just not as good as the actual actors. By the way, the ENGLISH dubbed version is the audio track running in the background of the commentary track by one of the directors and Ron Perlman.The commentary track is really quite insightful and pleasant. Ron Perlman shares helpful information that is doubly enjoyable when you listen to him. His comments reveal an intelligent, articulate, and compassionate man who is also very respectful of the directors and other actors in the film. The director, whose English at times is a little difficult to understand due to his very strong French accent, also offers choice tidbits of information, especially regarding the actors in the film, one of whom he said is actually better known as a singer in his native country (but perhaps only to people in his country!). The information about sets and design doesn't really interest me in commentaries because sometimes that information detracts from my enjoyment of the fantasy. In other words, I don't always want to know how something was done or how much it cost, but occasionally it is interesting.The story of the film was never really explained by the director in the commentary track, and Ron Perlman even commented on how difficult it is to understand it, which he admitted he never fully did. However, Perlman's portrayal of the character he played in the film (his name is "One") is appropriately gentle and kind, so he obviously understood that much of the film VERY well!The children in the film were awesome!The DVD video quality is very good when played on an upscaling blu-ray player and the audio quality is good too. There is also some hauntingly beautiful music played in various sections of the film, and the selection played during the end credits is terrific!I have wanted to view this film for years but never willing to pay a lot for a DVD version (would have preferred Blu-ray, but that doesn't exist...yet), so when I was able to purchase it directly from Amazon for $7.99, I took the plunge! If you don't mind reading subtitles, you might enjoy this film as much as I!

Visually stunning and quirky film. Just watch it.

Love this movie! A little awkward at times but it is one of my favorites

This was a very interesting fantasy film. It's definitely French, filled with freaks and strange creatures. It involves a group of kids who are being led into a life of crime by conjoined twins, a circus strong man who has the mind of a child, and a disembodied brain in an aquarium. I don't know what the filmmakers were smoking when they made this movie. Probably old tennis shoes stuffed with strange mushrooms. It is a visual delight and worth a watch, especially if you are in the mood for some strange stuff.

The City Of Lost Children is a very Artistic adventure into the human mind and beyond. It takes place in a dark, futuristic city along the French seaside where the world has fallen into a desolate totalitarian system of governance where BIG BROTHER is ever present. The streets are full of orphaned children who do whatever they need to do to survive and adults who will also do whatever they have to survive....including abducting little children and selling them. What's the film about? well that I believe will be up to each viewer. The run-down however is based around this....A gusty little girl and a strongman join hearts and hands to save a small boy's dreams from a mad scientists master plan who has a secret lair out in the middle of the ocean on an old oil rig. Take Terry Gilliam and make him a French Director who drinks Absinthe all day and drops acid and you will end up with "The City Of Lost Children". Beautiful sets, colors, stunning visualizations, and direction that will blow your mind and leave you a bit perplexed.For English Speaking Viewers, the Film is in FRENCH Language, however it is Dubbed in English so you can can simply select that in the "Audio" tracks Settings of the Blu Ray disc and enjoy the film in English Language. It also has English Subtitles that you can turn off in the subtitle settings. The sound for the Blu Ray edition has been re-mastered in 2.0 Channel DTS-HD, and the film has been upgraded to 1080p High Definition for and optimal and enhance viewing experience. The Blu Ray Edition I purchased is in Region "A" and plays on all North American Blu Ray & DVD Players. *Please pay attention to the information of the copy you are looking at to make sure it is in the player region for your country before purchasing.The Blu Ray also comes with some good extra features such as a 30 minute "Making Of The City Of Lost Children" documentary, Archives of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Interview with Jean-Paul Gaultier, Theatrical Trailors, and Commentary with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Una gran aventura!. Escenas, tomas, encuadres, ritmo, discurso, en fin, todo un buffett visual para la mente y los sentidos. Un poco bizarra pero así es la fantasía. Las actuaciones de todos, incluso de los niños, EXTRAORDINARIAS. Otra gran entrega de los maestros Jeunet & Caro aparte de Delicatessen. SUPER RECOMENDADA!.Amazon como siempre genial en envío y tiempo!.

Great film and actor lm very happy with the seller and product

Pour moi il s'agit d'une de ces pépites que le cinéma sait nous offrir.Le réalisateur et les décors très travaillés nous plongent dans un univers particulier, atypique mais subjuguant.Il faut noter la prestation de Ron Perlman, qui bien que n'ayant pas du avoir de mal à apprendre son texte, nous communique énormément d'émotion grâce à "sa gueule".

ジャン・ピエール・ジュネの作品が好きでVHSからの買い換えでしたが色彩がならではですねフリークスと子供達、ゴルチエの衣装といいなんともいえない世界をかもしだしている。