The City of Lost Children
I'm not sure why the filmmakers of The City of Lost Children even gave this film a plot. Why didn't they just make it a documentary on wonderful costumes and eye-popping set designs? Maybe they wanted a good story to make it better. But the movie probably could have been better without the plot. The makers put so much effort into the visual style of the movie that the plot just kind of got lost somewhere during the first act. I felt like the plot was just a device to get really cool visuals.
But I didn't really mind that. I enjoyed watching it, and I recommend it, but if you want a good story, look elsewhere. I pretty much followed the plot, but the problem was that the story just wasn't interesting. The characters were pretty interesting but I didn't like the one main evil character of the movie (played by Daniel Emilfork). As you can see, I didn't care about this side of the movie. On the other side is the visual style. That's where the movie succeeds. In fact, it's probably the best looking movie I have ever seen.
The sets were dark and gloomy and I would never set foot in that city. In one particular scene, Miette (Judith Vitett) tells another orphan that it is getting dark. Funny... I thought it was dark already. But that's how the sets are. Miette is very pretty and, walking amidst all the ugliness of the city, she stands out (probably what the producers meant to do). She runs into One (Ron Perlman) because he is searching for his kidnapped little brother. The movie is full of freakish characters, but these two stand out because they are pretty much normal, except for the fact that One is huge. I loved the characters because they were different from any other movie I have seen. Krank, who has a strange face, is scary and creepy. The small lady has hair bigger than her face (reminded me of Marge Simpson). The six clones (all played by Dominique Pinon, who does a great job) are all weird and out of their minds. And two of my favorite characters are the Siamese twins who breath the same smoke and think the same thoughts.
The City of Lost Children is rated R. There is some gruesome violence, mostly done off screen, and the entire "feel" around the film is too dark for kids. I don't think I would have enjoyed this movie in the theater, but I was enthralled because I could pause the video tape just to look at the luscious sets. I hope more movies come out like this, but with a better plot.