Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s ambitious and visually stunning ‘The City of Lost Children’ has been given a sparkling 4K UHD restoration from StudioCanal. A surreal and nightmarish fantasy film that takes place in a bizarre, steampunk-inspired world. While it may not be for everyone due to its offbeat style and thematically troubling material, the film is a truly unique and singular vision.
The story follows a mad scientist named Krank (Daniel Emilfork), whose inability to dream is causing him to age prematurely. In order to reverse this process he is kidnapping children and stealing their dreams. He is assisted in his offshore rig laboratory by a team of clones (Dominique Pinon), whilst the kidnapping is conducted at a nearby port city by his gang of cyborg cyclops.
When Krank’s latest victim is the little brother of a circus performer named One (Ron Perlman), the strongman teams up with an orphan (Judith Vittet)—who is part of a criminal gang ran by a pair of conjoined twins known as “the Octopus”—to rescue him. If at this point you are starting to think that ‘The City of Lost Children’ sounds utterly insane, well, it would be hard for me to disagree. It is bonkers.
However, it is an absolute feast for the eyes and ears. With the kind of intricate production design that would make Guillermo Del Toro envious, and a visually sumptuous colour scheme of reds and greens that would make Wong Kar Wai weep, it is an unforgettable work of art. Along with Jean-Paul Gaultier’s retro-futuristic costumes, and Angelo Badalamenti’s haunting and eerie score, it is a truly immersive and transporting experience.
Whilst it’s impossible to deny the craft on display, your enjoyment will ultimately depend on two things: your capacity to stomach the almost industrial levels of whimsy for which Jeunet and Caro are synonymous with; and whether or not you can make sense of the somewhat abstract narrative. There’s so much happening on screen at all time, so much to look at and get lost in the wonder of it all, it’s almost impossible to know what the hell is going on from one scene to the next.
From a beloved 90s cult classic, it is now seen in some quarters as a masterpiece of French cinema. I personally think that might be pushing it. For all its originality, imagination, and boldness of vision, it’s a difficult film to enjoy. The grotesque characters, incoherent storytelling, and shrill performances were just a bit too much, and no amount of attractive art direction could distract me enough to ignore them.
This new release comes with mostly archival special features. There is an audio commentary with Jean-Pierre Jeunet, as well as a 25-minute making-of programme from 1995. This features cast and crew interviews and some footage from the set. A second behind the scenes featurette from 2001 goes into more details on the craft to build the sets, the special makeup effects, rehearsal footage, and some of the original screen tests.
There’s also a short interview with Jean-Paul Gaultier from 1995, and then the disc is rounded off with a terrific brand-new interview with Jeunet and Caro, filmed exclusively for this release. They talk about the stunning 4K restoration, how the project developed, as well as their experiences of making the film.
Cast: Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon Director: Jeunet & Caro Writer: Gilles Adrian & Jean-Pierre Jeunet Released By: StudioCanal UK Certificate: 15 Duration: 112 mins Release Date: 3rd April 2023
