Caro & Jeunuet's bizarre 90s steampunk feverdream is made all the more vivid for me because the only time I'd seen it before was late at night on television as a child which adds to its disturbing nocturnal atmosphere. Like a gothic counterpart to the Fifth Element - it's a brooding, disturbing adventure but still overwhelmingly beautifully French. You can tell every cavernous set and intricate prop has been pored over and despite some creaking pacing and dubious allegorical overtones it really does feel like a work of art. You can see echoes of it in every mainstream wannabee European flick in the decades after and even though I've now seen it as an adult the haunted memory of seeing it late at night will stay with me forever.
Review of The City of Lost Children
