City of Lost Children is sort of a hard movie to describe. It's a German-French-Spanish collaboration, and although it's usually classed as a fantasy drama, there are definitely some pretty disturbing horror elements to the film. The story revolves around a mad scientist named Krank, who has taken to kidnapping children from the local town so that he can harvest their dreams (he himself is incapable of dreaming). It stars Ron Perlman in the lead role, a talented actor but one who did not speak French, and had to learn all his lines phonetically. Frankly, City of Lost Children is an unusually bizarre production, and it's remarkable that it have worked as well as it did. Stylistically, it's a gorgeous film, one that's as visually interesting as it is strange and off-putting. You might like City of Lost Children if: you like Terry Gilliam's films, which feel tonally similar to this one. This one will be a big hit for fans of dark fantasy, as well as lovers of steampunk, which has its mark all over this film despite City of Lost Children pre-dating the mainstream popularity of the stylistic genre.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
