Tuesday, 7 June 2005

The City of Lost Children (1995)

This French film jointly directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro of "Delicatessen" fame is a visual feast nearly impossible to describe.  The basic storyline involves a grotesque old man (part of a family of a midget, six cloned sons and a brain that lives in a tank) who is unable to dream and who therefore steals children to purloin theirs.  The hero is Ron Perlman, the strange-looking American who has had the most eclectic international career; I have a lot of time for his bravery. The costumes are by Gaultier and both they and the art design are inspired; I shall always remember a troop of scary Santas descending on a poor toddler.  But forget my ravings, try to see it.  For subtitle-haters, it is also available in a dubbed version.

And by the way there is a scarifying pair of villainous Siamese-twin sisters sharing three legs between them.  They're not real but nothing in this film could be real other than the fantastic imaginations behind it. 

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