City of Lost Children

City of Lost Children/La Cité Des Enfants Perdus


Language: French with English subtitles.

Brief Synopsis: An evil scientist, Krank, cannot dream. He and his evil henchmen kidnap children in an attempt to steal their dreams. One (Ron Perlman) searches for his little brother, Denree, who has been kidnapped by Krank's henchmen. Along the way he enlists the help of Miette, a young girl, and other children in the bizarre and dark City of Lost Children.

My Take: I love this film. It's very strange, and unfortunately the cinematography is a bit dated now, but it's still a beautiful and wonderful sort of fairy tale for adults. It's sort of Pan's Labyrinth 1.0, if you will.

Miette, the heroine of the film, is engaging and extremely enjoyable to watch. She is the sort of girl I would have aspired to be as a youth, the kind of girl that takes care of herself and still manages to look good doing it.

One thing I found fascinating about this film is that Ron Perlman doesn't speak a lick of French, though he was able to muddle through his lines for the film. I think it works because his character, One, is a bit on the slow side. He's a side-show strongman, regaled for his physical strength and not his wits. Miette is most certainly the brains of the operation.

Krank and his minions are creepy, and the world they inhabit is equally so. Everything has a surreal, dream-like quality to it that's almost reminiscent of Tim Burton's early works, or, perhaps more appropriately, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It is absolutely beautiful to watch even now, with some of the special effects being a bit dated. The film is an art piece in and of itself, without even the wonderful story and tremendous acting.

I hold a special place in my heart for dark fairytales, and this film fits the bill perfectly. While it is a bit too dark and violent for young children, it is most certainly fit for teens and adults who haven't lost the child inside of them.


Entertainment value: High. The story is fantastic, it's stunning to watch, and it's hard to take your eyes off of young Miette.
Scare value: Low-Medium. A few parts with Krank and the mad scientist brain thing are less than comforting.
Realistic?: Extremely low. This is a fantasy and it makes no bones about it.
Violence/Gore: Medium. I don't remember anything in particular that was horrifically violent, but there is certainly enough violence to warrant an "R" rating.
Sex: Low. One is hit on at a bar, and that's about the extent of it.
This movie is for: Anyone who is willing to watch a foreign film. Seriously, I recommend it that highly.
Films like it: Pan's Labyrinth, Dark City

IMDB Entry on City of Lost Children
Trailer

Peacock

Peacock


My basic synopsis: John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy) leads a fairly normal life in the small town of Peacock. He eats his breakfast, he goes to work, he comes home and goes to bed. What's not so normal is that he changes personalities entirely in the morning and evening into "Emma". When a train accident exposes Emma to the town of Peacock, it can only spell trouble for his small piece of normality.

My thoughts/my take: Cillian Murphy is brilliant as John/Emma Skillpa. He makes an extremely believable woman, and as John, he has an amazingly broken sort of persona that makes him at once a sad character and one you can't quite like. He reminded me very strongly of Norman Bates in Psycho, and since he was also a crossdresser with multiple personalities, I suppose the shoe fits.

The movie is confusing; sometimes John is actually in control while he's dressed as Emma and vice-versa. What's more, certain background points are alluded to but never explained, such as John's abuse by his mother and his relationship with Maggie (Ellen Page), a young mother who prostitutes for extra money now and again.

The performances make this movie, to be sure. The plot is meandering and confusing, the shots are good but not anything that wowed me. Cillian Murphy steals the show, particularly as Emma, but the supporting cast are all phenomenal as well. Susan Sarandon's nosy neighbor is very real-feeling, and Ellen Page's Maggie is extremely flawed, though surprisingly real as well. (No Juno crack wit here; Maggie is a dredge of society, a young mother with no ambition other than to get the hell out of Peacock.)

Maggie is the biggest plot device, with her young son and her rough life. The relationship between John/Emma and Maggie is the main focus of the film, but it just doesn't quite fit. While I would recommend this film to actors for a study on playing two characters at once as well as mental instability, otherwise I found it depressing and lackluster.

Entertainment value: Low-Medium. It's not a particularly happy movie and it's slow.
Scare value: None, lol, unless seeing Scarecrow from Batman in a dress scares you.
Realistic?: Fairly. The characters are all very real, living and breathing sorts. Which makes most of them also rather unlikable.
Violence/Gore: None.
Sex: There are mentions of it and one scene that references something pretty awful, but no actual sex is to be seen.
This movie is for: Die-hard Cillian Murphy fans, acting students.
Films like it: Psycho, sort of. I genuinely can't think of anything else that's close.

IMDB Entry on Peacock
Trailer