La Cité des enfants perdus (1995)

Partager la citation sur facebook Miette: When you're born in the gutter you end up in the port.

Partager la citation sur facebook L'oncle Irvin: [after Krank's latest failiure] Who stole the child's dreams? Krank, in his evil schemes. But the happy tale had a sting in it's tail. The genius has a fit of pique, hear the genius shriek, the 'genius' is up a creek.

Partager la citation sur facebook Krank: Irvin?
L'oncle Irvin: I've got a migraine!
Krank: Irvin, you know all about feelings. Won't you try to help me? Won't you explain why all those children only have nightmares?
L'oncle Irvin: Because you are their nightmare. You could persecute all the children in the world, but there's one thing you'll never have.
Krank: What?
L'oncle Irvin: A soul.
Krank: Because you believe you have one? You don't even have a body. The one who created us made us all monsters.
L'oncle Irvin: No Krank, you're wrong. You are the only monster here.
Krank: [Distressed] Be Quiet! He is the only one responsible for that, I say I'm innocent. I'm innocent!
Krank: [Shuffles away and then turns back with regained composure] In any case, I thank you for your help.

Partager la citation sur facebook City of the Lost Children is just unbelievably bizarre when you watch it. The plot is a pretty simplistic good vs. evil ploy, but the city is the real star of the show. While it's funky urban-decay architecture and opaque green water is fascinating enough as it is, even more so are the inhabitants of the city. Here's a quick little list of what you'll see in this movie:

Partager la citation sur facebook Circus strongman

Partager la citation sur facebook Assassin fleas and their accordion-grinder master

Partager la citation sur facebook Evil Siamese twins

Partager la citation sur facebook A band of child thieves

Partager la citation sur facebook A brain in a jar

Partager la citation sur facebook Circus midgets

Partager la citation sur facebook A bunch of clones that suffer from narcolepsy

Partager la citation sur facebook Dreams in a jar

Partager la citation sur facebook A guy with a tattoo of a minefield on his head

Partager la citation sur facebook Can we find, in "The City of Lost Children," a parable on the desperation of modern man, who is progressively losing the ability to dream?

Partager la citation sur facebook Caro: We never have "messages" of that sort, merely the desire to tell a simple story.
Jeunet: I think of men incapable of dreaming...There have always been men to put on fantasy festivals, or to make films, to make others dream; and there are others who have never dreamed.
Caro: Dreaming is also having the ability to preserve the spirit of childhood. It's true that it's a little metaphorical in the framework of the film, but there's no message.

Partager la citation sur facebook Why was there so much secrecy during filming?

Partager la citation sur facebook Jeunet: When working on a film of such scope, answering journalists' questions is impossible. There are already so many more pressing questions: where am I going to put the camera, what do I say to the actor, how it's going to be done, etc. And there are a million of these questions daily! [Laughs.] Also, we didn't want to spoil the surprises, so as not to wear the public out.

Partager la citation sur facebook On the one hand, capitalism is presented as enabling self-interest and freedom, as exemplified by the freedom to produce scientific developments (Krank), pursue religious ideas (the Cyclopses), and seek wealth (the Octopus). On the other hand, it exposes the deplorable effects of capitalism ... the exploitation of childhood (the cynical orphans), of tenderness (the Original scientist, attacked and turned out by his own beloved creations), and of innocence (the terrified children whose dreams are stolen) while suggesting that there is no place in capitalism for originality, disinterestedness, duty, self-reflective analysis, and other defining aspects of "the human."
Jen Webb and Tony Schirato. "Disenchantment and the City Of Lost Children". Revue Canadienne d'Études cinématographiques / Canadian Journal of Film Studies. 13 (1): 62. (2004).

Partager la citation sur facebook Jen Webb and Tony Schirato. "Disenchantment and the City Of Lost Children". Revue Canadienne d'Études cinématographiques / Canadian Journal of Film Studies. 13 (1): 62. (2004).