Challenge #05: The City of Lost Children (review & spam)
Let me talk to you about a severely underrated film known as The City of Lost Children. Or sometimes La Cité des enfants perdus. Yes it is a foreign language film, and yes you will probably have to read subtitles. DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU. Let me tell you why:
The Plot
Simply this movie is about home and family, real and constructed. I've seen it compared to The Wizard of Oz, which may be true (note: this is not nearly as family friendly. Imagine Oz with flying monkeys present the whole time. Not terrifying, but kind of dark. That's this movie)
The gist of it: A simple strong-man and his little brother. A young thief. A mad scientist and his creations. Child snatchers and quest to find that which was lost. A wish to dream.
Sounds appealing, right?
The Director
This film is directed and written and creatively controlled by the team of Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro. You probably haven't heard of Marc Caro. But Jeunet is the big name in this partnership. He's probably best known as the director of the award-winning Amélie. Yes that beautiful and quirky romantic film from a few years ago (if you haven't seen it, go watch that too!). But as a warning, The City of Lost Children has a much, much darker tone than Amélie. Jeunet also has directed Delicatessen and Alien Resurrection - both of which are dark, creepy, and rather twisted. Jeunet = bizarre, okay? Which is part of what makes The City of Lost Children one of my favorite movies.
The French
Another reason I love this movie, is the French. Yes, French is a very pretty language - that's not really what I mean. What I DO mean is that I - with my three years of high school French classes - can actually follow along. Most of that is due to the character and casting of the male lead, One. He's a simple fellow, deeply concerned with keeping his family together. He's played by American actor Ron Perlman - who doesn't really know the language. Which in this case is perfectly fine. and my grasp of the language in this film has nothing to do with the number of times I watched it. nope. none
The Actors
Wait, who's Ron Perlman? Why one of the best character actors of our age! Most people don't recognize the name but defiantly recognize his face. He's kinda... awkward looking. Most films he's in have him covered in make-up, to the point where he borders on unrecognizable. For instance, you may have seen Hellboy? Yeah, that's Ron under buckets of red paint. And he curently stars on FX's Sons of Anarchy as Clay. Wether he's in make-up or not, he's sure to be charming with a slightly dark humor (and a very nice smile. digress.)
There's also a bunch of french actors that if you've seen Amélie, you will probably recognize. Especially Dominique Pinon, who plays seven?...eight?... characters in this. Lot's of trick photography :)
The kids are adorable in this. And it's sad that Miette's actress hasn't been in much else. She's beautiful (and spunky).
The Imagery
Costumes
It was only when preparing this review that I realized the costumes in this movie were done by none other than Jean Paul Gaultier. Yes, the haute couture designer. The one that worked for Hermès and designed Madonna's cone bra! That right there explains how much I love the costumes in this film. I can't tell you how much I want a number of these outfits (including Miette's dress and One's sweater)
Special effects
the whole movie has this green tinge to it. apparently, all the actors wore white make-up and then the film was color corrected to flesh tones, giving it an other worldly feel. There's also some neat instances of scenes similar to Rube Goldberg machines - you know, following chain reactions. It's common in Jeunet's films. Well done here.
Steampunk
The props, sets and costumes all have that other world, other time feel. It's probably easier to show you.
Conclusion
Watch it. As soon as possible. And on a HD screen too :)
