# The City of Lost Children
**The City of Lost Children** (*La Cité des enfants perdus*) is a 1995 French-language fantasy film directed by Marc Caro and [Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-pierre-jeunet), in which a scientist who cannot dream kidnaps children to steal their dreams and slow his own aging. It was the second feature co-directed by Caro and Jeunet after *[Delicatessen](https://www.edgepedia.org/delicatessen-1991-film)* (1991), and it opened the 1995 Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection.[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347) • [2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-cite-des-enfants-perdus/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Directors | Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, their last co-direction after *Delicatessen* (1991)[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347) • [3](https://boutique.arte.tv/detail/citedeenfantsperdus) |
| Countries and dates | France and Spain; French censorship visa 10 May 1995, theatrical release in France 17 May 1995[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347) |
| Runtime | 112 min per the Cinémathèque française; the CNC visa record lists 114 min[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) • [1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347) |
| Principal cast | Ron Perlman (One), Daniel Emilfork (Krank), Judith Vittet (Miette), Dominique Pinon (the diver and the clones), Jean-Claude Dreyfus (Marcello)[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) |
| Key crew | Cinematography Darius Khondji; music Angelo Badalamenti; screenplay Gilles Adrien, Jeunet, and Caro, with dialogue also by Guillaume Laurant[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) |
| Festival | Opening film of the 1995 Cannes Official Selection[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-cite-des-enfants-perdus/) |
| US release | 15 December 1995, Sony Pictures Classics; R rating; US gross $1.9 million[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film is set in a grimy port city where young children are disappearing, kidnapped by a sect called the Cyclopes on behalf of Professor Krank. Krank lives in a laboratory on a platform in the sea and tries desperately to steal the dreams of the children he has kidnapped, but succeeds only in giving them nightmares; the Cinémathèque's synopsis adds that he feeds on their dreams, which keep him from aging.[6](https://telequebec.tv/contenu/cite-des-enfants-per) • [4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html)
With the help of an orphan girl, Miette, the former sailor One, a circus strongman, sets out to find his little brother Denree, who has just been abducted. Various sinister characters stand in their way.[6](https://telequebec.tv/contenu/cite-des-enfants-per) Rotten Tomatoes' synopsis describes Krank's cadre of cloned henchmen snatching the five-year-old Denree for the dream-retrieval process, and One joining forces with his precocious nine-year-old friend Miette to defeat Krank's minions.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children)
### Cast and characters
[Ron Perlman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-perlman), an American actor, plays One and performs in French; a 2025 critic's review notes he delivered the language phonetically.[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children) Daniel Emilfork, a Chilean actor, plays the villain Krank, and Judith Vittet plays Miette.[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) Dominique Pinon, a Jeunet regular, plays the diver and the clones; Jean-Claude Dreyfus plays Marcello, Serge Merlin plays the leader of the Cyclopes, and [Jean-Louis Trintignant](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-louis-trintignant) provides the voice of Irvin, a brain in a jar character credited in the Cinémathèque cast list.[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html)
## Production
Caro and Jeunet conceived the idea fourteen years before the film was made. After *Delicatessen*, which earned two Césars, they reteamed with that film's producer Claudie Ossard and undertook extensive preparations, contracting two leading French special-effects houses, one digital and one computerized, to realize their most challenging ideas.[7](https://www.sonyclassics.com/city/misc/about.html)
Filming began on April 18, 1994 at studios and soundstages just outside Paris. [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) lasted 20 weeks, concluding on September 6, 1994.[7](https://www.sonyclassics.com/city/misc/about.html) Production companies included Lumière, Le Studio Canal+, France 3 Cinéma, and Victoires Productions, with Elías Querejeta P.C. (Madrid) and Tele München Group as co-producers; the original distributor was UGC.[4](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html) The CNC registers the work as a French and Spanish production.[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347)
## Reception
The film premiered as the opening film of the 1995 Cannes Official Selection.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-cite-des-enfants-perdus/) In the United States, Sony Pictures Classics released it on December 15, 1995, and it grossed $1.9 million.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children)
Critical response has emphasized the film's visual invention. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 80% Tomatometer from 61 reviews and an 89% audience score; the site's critics consensus states that not all of its many intriguing ideas are developed, but calls it an engrossing, disturbing, profoundly memorable experience.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children) Metacritic assigns a Metascore of 73 based on 16 critic reviews, in the site's "generally favorable" band.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-city-of-lost-children/) Reviewers singled out the imagery: Jeff Shannon of the *Seattle Times* called it "on visual terms alone... something of a masterpiece, using state-of-the-art physical, optical and digital special effects," while Roger Ebert admired the visuals but found the film fell short as a narrative.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children) • [9](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children/reviews) A survey of nine critics' reviews found broad agreement on the visual imagination and disagreement over whether the storytelling sustains it.[9](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children/reviews)
## Legacy and related media
The film inspired a computer game developed at the [Psygnosis](https://www.edgepedia.org/psygnosis) company in France in close collaboration with Marc Caro, using 3D graphics to let players explore approximately 100 different rooms in a storyline similar to the film's, playable as Miette or One, with the film's music incorporated; Sony distributed it for the [PlayStation](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation) and CD-ROM.[7](https://www.sonyclassics.com/city/misc/about.html)
The film's visual world has been repeatedly cited as an influence on later works. A viewer review on Rotten Tomatoes describes its dark baroque aesthetic as having clearly inspired the universe of the video game *BioShock*, and another notes that the power armor and style of *Fallout* were inspired by the film; these are audience observations rather than documented production credits.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children) ARTE's boutique description places the film alongside *Delicatessen* as carrying the mark of a humanism and a passion for a popular, roguish France of the past, qualities later found in Jeunet's *Amélie*.[3](https://boutique.arte.tv/detail/citedeenfantsperdus)
## References
1. [La Cité des enfants perdus, fiche œuvre, visa n° 81347, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=81347)
2. [La Cité des enfants perdus, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-cite-des-enfants-perdus/)
3. [La cité des enfants perdus, ARTE Boutique](https://boutique.arte.tv/detail/citedeenfantsperdus)
4. [La Cité des enfants perdus (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1994), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/56876.html)
5. [The City of Lost Children, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_lost_children)
6. [La cité des enfants perdus, Télé-Québec](https://telequebec.tv/contenu/cite-des-enfants-per)
7. [City of Lost Children, Production Notes, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/city/misc/about.html)
8. [The City of Lost Children Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-city-of-lost-children/)
9. [The City of Lost Children (1995), critics' reviews, Fi1m](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children/reviews)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1990s › Released 1990 to 1995*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license