The City of Lost Children

Krank cannot dream and is ageing fast because of it, so on a platform out at sea he abducts children and tries to steal theirs. One, a fairground strongman whose little brother is taken, comes looking. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro wrote and directed it together, and visually it is a direct bridge between Delicatessen and Amélie. Darius Khondji shot it, Jean Paul Gaultier designed the costumes and Angelo Badalamenti wrote the score. That combination is the film's strongest asset; people who cannot recall the plot still recall the atmosphere. Ron Perlman plays One. It screened at Cannes in May 1995 and opened in France on 17 May 1995. On an 18 million dollar budget it grossed around 11 million worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 80 percent. Roger Ebert praised the design and added honestly that he would be lying if he said he understood the plot. Its influence reached elsewhere too: Tim Cain, designer of the original Fallout, named it among his visual references. Who it is for: viewers who like dark fairy tales and design-led filmmaking. Who it is not for: anyone wanting narrative clarity. Ebert's objection holds and the second half really does come apart.