The City of Lost Children

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro and written by Jeunet,Caro, and Gilles Adrien, La Cite des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children) is a fantasy-drama film set in a dystopian world where a carnival strongman and a streetwise orphan going to an island to save children from a mad scientist. Featuring Jeunet’s whimsical yet colorful direction along with Caro’s broad visual ideas, it is considered the duo’s finest collaboration of their career. Starring Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Rufus, Ticky Holgado, Mathieu Kassovitz, and the voice of Jean-Louis Trintignant. La Cite des enfants perdus is a remarkable yet stunning film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro.

Somewhere on a mysterious island in the middle of the sea, a mad scientist named Krank (Daniel Emilfork) is kidnapping children so he can steal their dreams. Krank, unable to dream, is getting nightmares from the children he kidnaps with the help of his midget-wife Martha (Mirielle Mosse) and a group of cloned men (Dominique Pinon). Yet, all the children are scared of Krank as he hopes to reverse the aging process while is being annoyed by a brain named Irvin (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who the clones admire. Krank continues to look for a child that would give him good dreams so he can stop himself from aging. Meanwhile at a nearby dystopian world, a simple-minded strongman named One (Ron Perlman) is taking care of a young infant child named Denree (Joseph Lucien) who is later kidnapped by a group of men known as Cyclops.

During his search for Denree, One meets a young girl named Miette who helps him as she’s part of a group of orphan thieves who steal for Siamese-twin women known as Octopus (Genevieve Brunet and Odile Mallet) who are connected by one foot. After encountering their guard Peeler (Rufus), One and Miette go on a journey to find Cyclops and its leader Gabriel Marie (Serge Merlin). There, they see a ceremony where Martha and one of the clones get the kidnapped children including Denree where One and Miette are caught. Octopus sends a former circus performer named Marcell (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to retrieve One for their own reasons where Marcello uses a flea to attack one of the Cyclops to save One while Miette nearly drowns only to be saved by a man in a diving bell suit revealed to be Krank’s former scientist (Dominique Pinon).

When a fuse full of nightmares comes across the ex-scientist, he realizes what is going on while Miette finds One as she also sees one of the nightmares. Realizing where Denree is, they encounter some trouble while finding a man (Ham-Chau Luong) with a tattoo on his head leading to the island. It’s up to a strongman, a young girl, and an ex-scientist to save the kids before its too late.

The film is a fantasy story about a simple-minded yet loving strongman and a young girl try to save a young infant boy from an evil scientist who is trying to steal dreams from children in hopes to reverse the aging process for himself. Yet, it is set in a world where things are hopeless as young infant children are often kidnapped while orphans had to fend for themselves. For this young girl where she meets this childlike strongman, she finds someone who can protect her while this strongman finds someone who can help him. Yet, they face a mad scientist who has become obsessed with becoming young only to lose sight of reality as he becomes dependent on finding infants who aren’t scared of him so he can live in their dreams.

The screenplay that Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, and Gilles Adrien create explores a world that is definitely lost where there are even more crazier things in this mysterious island that is protected by mines and such. Notably as the mainland features an underground army of blind men who can only see through an electronic eye as they’re working for this scientist to kidnap children. When they encounter this strong man and a very determined young girl, all things become troubling for the scientist. Yet, One and Miette also have to deal with the Siamese-twin ladies known as Octopus who are upset over the fact that Miette has become trouble and is turning over a new leaf away from stealing.

While the story is a dystopian-fantasy film, it’s also got a lot of humor as there’s a small subplot about a group of clones trying to figure out who is the original clone. Even in some scenes where there’s a lot of strange scenarios into how One and Miette try to get out of a bad situation that does involve a lot of comedy. Even the character of Krank is comical since he is so delusional about what he wants as he is also annoyed by this talking brain named Irvin who is the film’s conscience.

The direction of Caro and Jeunet is definitely big in terms of its presentation where it is set in a world that is off-kilter and full of things where not everything works. Notably as the mainland is cramped and there’s children running around while there’s a lot of strange things happening where young children have to hide from the Cyclops. The direction is filled with stylish shots from these wide crane shots, dizzying fish-eye lenses, close-ups, and all sorts of things to maintain that sense of whimsy that Caro and Jeunet wants. Even in the way they present funny moments as well as surreal moments where reality and fiction collide such as the climatic scene at the island when One and Miette finally face Krank.

The direction also contains element of darkness in the way dystopia is presented though it’s not overtly bleak. Notably as it features some spectacular action sequences that involves not just some quirky visual effects but also suspense such as face-off between Octopus against Miette and One. There’s also some very strange scenes such as the way an accident is presented where it is this strange mix of humor and action that plays to that world of the whimsical. It’s all part of a world that is very weird that has some element of reality but it is mostly a fantasy. Overall, Jeunet and Caro create a fantastic and adventurous film that plays well to the fantasy genre.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does brilliant work with the film‘s very stylish photography with its sepia-drenched lighting schemes for many of the film‘s interior and exterior settings in the mainland as well as scenes underwater and some more low-key colors in the island scenes. Editor Herve Schneid does amazing work with the editing by utilizing lots of stylish cuts for some of the film‘s action scenes along with dazzling cuts for some of the dream montages. Production designers Marc Caro and Jean Rabasse do spectacular work with the set pieces created from the look of the mainland with its buildings to the more quirky video cameras at Krank’s island.

Costume designer Jean-Paul Gaultier does excellent work with the costumes as they‘re quite over-the-top in the look of the Cyclops as well as the more colorful clothes most of the characters wear. The visual effects by Pitof and Pierre Buffin are terrific for the way some of the backdrops look as well as the close-ups of Marcello‘s flea that would fly to inject something into a person. Sound designer Jean-Pierre Halbwachs does superb work with the sound to create some unique sound effects in the scenes set in the island as well as other layers of mixing to play up the sense of whimsy that occurs in the film. The film’s music by Angelo Badalamenti is wonderful for its sense of orchestral bombast as well as playfulness in some of the comical moments as it’s one of Badalamenti’s best scores.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou is incredible for the ensemble that features some notable appearances from Mathieu Kassovitz as a man in the streets, Ticky Holgado as One’s master, Rufus as Octopus’ henchman, Marc Caro as a man becoming a Cyclops, Serge Merlin as the Cyclops leader, and Joseph Lucien as One’s baby brother Denree who is always eating something. Genevieve Brunet and Odile Mallet are great as the conniving Siamese-twin sisters Octopus who are determined to get rid of Miette for rebelling against them. Jean-Louis Trintignant is very funny as the voice of the brain Irvin whom the clones adore and Krank is annoyed by while Jean-Claude Dreyfus is excellent as the former circus performer Marcello who finds himself sympathizing with One and Miette over their situation.

Mirelle Mosse is wonderful as Krank’s diminutive wife Martha who helps Krank out while dealing all of the chaos in the island while Dominique Pinon is amazing as the clones and the mysterious man in the diving bell suit where he brings a lot of humor as the clones while being more quirky as the diver. Daniel Emilfork is terrific as the villainous Krank as he’s a man full of delusions and anger as he is unsure if his experiments will work. Judith Vittet is brilliant as Miette as she’s a determined child who knows how to do things while aiding One in his mission as she realized how important it is. Finally, there’s Ron Perlman in a remarkable performance as the simple-minded strongman One where Perlman gets to show restraint in his role as a man trying to find his baby brother while Perlman doesn’t get to have a lot of dialogue though he does speak French quite adequately. Notably as he makes up for it with his physical presence and ability to be funny and sensitive in his role.

La Cite des enfants perdus is a marvelous film from the duo of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. The film is definitely among one of Jeunet’s great films as it features amazing performances from Ron Perlman, Judith Vittet, Daniel Emilfork, and Dominique Pinon. It’s a film that is among one of the most imaginative and entertaining fantasy films that plays to the world of reality and fiction that is expected in the genre. In the end, La Cite des enfants perdus is a spectacular film from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagment - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2013

Delicatessen

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro and written by Jeunet, Caro, and Gilles Adrien, Delicatessen is the story set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with famine where a butcher kills people to feed his tenants in the apartment above his deli. The film is a black comedy that explores a world where people are hungry as they turn to a butcher for help as he does whatever it takes to feed his friends. Starring Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, and Karin Viard. Delicatessen is a visually-stylish yet zany film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.

In a post-apocalyptic world covered in a dust storm where there’s a horrible famine and the only currency in the world is grain, a butcher named Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) runs a delicatessen as he feeds the tenants above him as he’s also their landlord. After killing a worker, Clapet sends an ad to get a new whom he plans to kill later as an unemployed circus clown named Louiston (Dominique Pinon) arrives to answer the ad as Clapet lets him in. While Louiston does a lot of the work, he befriends Clapet’s daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) as many of the tenants realize how resourceful Louiston is as Clapet is reluctant to kill as he waits for Clapet to do screw up.

When Julie learns what her father is planning to do, she reads the newspaper about an underground of vegetarians known as the Troglodistes as she goes underground where she meets them and tells them about the large vault of grain her father has. The Trogolodistes secretly try to go into the building to find where the vault of grain is where an attempted murder on Louiston went wrong since Louiston was nowhere near the incident. On the night when Louiston’s old clown performance is to be on TV, the Trogolodistes make an attempt to get all of the grain while Clapet decides to make one final attempt to kill Louiston as all hell breaks loose.

The film is essentially the story about a former circus clown who answers an ad to be a repairman at an apartment where the main floor is a deli as he is unaware that the people in the building are cannibals desperate to eat meet as their landlord/butcher does all of the killing. Set in this post-apocalyptic world during a famine, it’s a film that is a part-dystopian film but also bends all sorts of genres from slasher films, romance, and black comedy. A lot of which features all sorts of eccentricities such as many subplots such as Clapet’s affair with a seductive woman (Karin Viard), a family with an old lady (Edith Ker), two men trying to recreate old sounds, and a woman trying to kill herself in elaborate presentations.

The screenplay does lay to a traditional structure yet it does enough to establish what is happening in the world with the first ten minutes where a man tries to hide and he eventually gets killed by this butcher and then feed it to his tenants. When the character of Louiston appears, he has no idea what he’s in store yet he is oblivious to what really goes on as he focus his attention towards fixing up the building and falling for the butcher’s daughter who is a vegetarian. Meanwhile, there’s an underground group of vegetarians that are trying to survive in the underground as Caplet’s daughter eventually tells them about the large vault of grain that he has. The second half of the story is about not just the heist but also Caplet trying to kill Louiston in every way he can as things do go out of control yet Louiston is someone who is more than capable of taking care of things.

The direction of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is definitely stylized in terms of the presentation they create. Largely as it’s set mostly in a building and some of it underground where it’s a world that is on to its own. Notably as Caro and Jeunet maintain an intimacy in this dystopian world where it’s very off as there’s not many people who lurk around outside except for those unfortunate victims that Caplet would kill to feed his tenants. Through some very stylized camera angles as well as quirky montages such as scene where lots of sound is made that almost becomes a musical number. It’s part of the strange world that the film wants to present as it’s definitely not reality but rather a reality that is truly off.

The film also features lots of unique set pieces to establish the different worlds where the apartment building is nearly in ruins as it’s surrounded by buildings that are practically destroyed. There’s lot of spaces where each tenant lives in their own world as the camera is always interested in that environment that includes a basement lived by a man (Howard Vernon) who surrounds himself with frogs and snails where he eats the latter. Eventually, there comes this climax between Louiston and Caplet where there’s so much that happens where it revolves into a lot of stylized scenery and action that would play into the fates of what would happen. Overall, Caro and Jeunet create a dazzling and very entertaining film that does a lot more to keep the audience excited.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does brilliant work with the film‘s very stylized cinematography that is awash with lots of sepia-drenched colors for most of the film including the exteriors and underground as well as some of the interiors. Editor Herve Schneid does excellent work with the editing from the playful montages that is created to more stylish approaches to cutting to play up the humor and suspenseful moments of the film. Production designer Marc Caro, along with set decorator Aline Bonetto and art director Miljen Kreka Kljakovic, does spectacular work with the set pieces for the film such as the deli, the apartments, and the underground sewers that the Trogolodistes live in.

Costume designer Valerie Pozzo di Borgo does wonderful work with the costumes from the seductive red dresses that Mademoiselle Plusse wears to the more eccentric clothes of Louiston. The visual effects work of Pitof is a delight for the whimsy that it creates from some of the transitions that are created in the pipes to a few smaller things like bubbles that Louiston does to entertain a couple of kids. Sound editor Gerard Hardy does fantastic work with the sound to create an atmosphere as well as to play up the eccentricity of the apartment with its collage of sounds to create a musical number of sorts. The film’s music by Carlos D’Alessio is incredible for its orchestral pieces to play up the suspense as well as some light-hearted moments including the musical duet between Julie and Louiston where they respectively played cello and musical saw.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou is remarkable for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Pascal Benezech as the unfortunate victim in the film’s beginning, Boban Janevski and Mikael Todde as the two kids in the apartment, Marc Caro as a Trogolodistes, Edith Ker as the grandmother, Chick Ortega as the postman, Jean-Francois Perrier as the husband of the suicidal woman, and Silvie Laguna as the suicidal woman who tries to kill herself in strange yet elaborate presentations. Other memorable small roles include Anne-Marie Pisani as Madame Tapioca, Jacques Mathou as the craftsman Roger, and Howard Vernon as the man who lives with the frogs.

Future Jeunet regulars in Ticky Holgado and Rufus are excellent in their respective roles as the tenants in the pushover Marcel Tapioca and the sound re-creator Robert Kube. Karin Viard is wonderful as the seductive tenant Mademoiselle Plusse who befriends Louiston only to get herself into trouble with the Trogolodistes. Jean-Claude Dreyfus is great as the villainous Clapet who desires to try and kill for his tenants as he meets his greatest challenge in Louiston. Marie-Laure Dougnac is superb as Clapet’s vegetarian daughter Julie who falls for Louiston as she shares her eccentricities with him while doing whatever she cans to defy her father. Finally, there’s Dominique Pinon in a marvelous performance as Louiston where he displays a quirky sense of humor and charm as well as create a character who lives in a world of his own and finds his way to deal with whatever situation he’s going through.

Delicatessen is a spectacular yet whimsical film from the duo of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Featuring some outstanding performances from Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, and Jean-Claude Dreyfus. It’s a film that isn’t afraid to be a dystopian comedy with a mix of slasher and romance as it is also not afraid to not take itself so seriously. In the end, Delicatessen is a phenomenal film from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: The City of Lost Children - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2012