La Cité des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children)

What are we made of? A body? A soul? A mind? An identity? Isn't there a child in each and every one of us? What if one, or more, of those constituents is/are missing? Which of them is the most, or least, important? Can we even rationally compare their importance? How about qualities like innocence, brotherhood and greed? Are they also part of us? All of us, or only some, or maybe none?

These are the questions that kept jumping into my mind while watching this movie. One of my personal criteria of a good movie is whether it poses any questions. The good news is that even if you don't exert any effort thinking beyond what you see on the screen, most probably you will still enjoy this movie. The bad news though is that if you are too lazy to think, you will miss a lot.

This isn't yet another Sci-Fi movie only for the sake of showing off the latest and greatest in computer animation and special effects. The metaphysical themes presented in this movie were best served by the Sci-Fi script, and the script was best implemented through immaculate special effects, fortunately without overdoing it. This is the third movie I watch for Jean-Pierre Jeunet after Amelie and A very long engagement, and now I can say it out loud: This guy is a genius.