Welcome to Movie Shortens. Follow us today to a 1995 science fantasy film
called: The City of Lost Children. Before we start, be aware: there are spoilers!
As we begin the film, we see a dream of a young boy in his crib. A rope drops and Santa Claus
appears from the chimney. He offers the young boy a toy elephant. But suddenly, more Santa
Clauses keep appearing, entering the room. The young boy tries to run, but is surrounded.
We then see Krank in his laboratory attached to his dream extractor with the cloned assistants, Le
scaffandreer. Krank screams in agony causing his assistants to scream as well. Mademoiselle Bismuth
quiets the assistants, as Krank goes to check on the child whose dream he has just stolen.
Elsewhere, young boys Jeanno and Tadpole explore a carnival. The boys witness a strongman
known as One perform a feat of strength. The performance is interrupted as One's little brother
Denree has bitten Jeanno for stealing. Jeanno is apprehended by The Carney, but a man named
Rufus comes to his aid, stabbing The Carney. Back at home, One watches over The Carney while
Denree eats. Outside, members of the Cyclops gang break into One's home. The gang searches around,
eventually finding One and his brother. One begins to fight with the gang,
but while he is distracted, Denree is taken away. One flees from the Cyclops gang and
takes refuge in a house nearby. Orphans Mi ette, Bottle, Pipo, Tadpole and Jeanno
ask why he is in their home. The Cyclops gang arrives and the
children disguise One. The gang leaves, setting off an alarm as they go. Mi ette and the children
gather some money, but leave One behind. Elsewhere, the Clones and Bismuth are having a
birthday celebration for their Uncle Irvin, who happens to be a brain. Krank walks in,
irritated by all the noise from the party. Irvin suggests Krank study his own tears to improve the
stealing of children's dreams. The Clones try to get Krank to cry from laughter, but
fail. Irvin tells Krank a fairy tale, which was actually the story of Krank's life. Irvin mentions
Krank's inability to dream that causes him to age. It is why he needs to steal children's dreams,
and Krank finally sheds a tear. Krank then becomes enraged, and orders everyone out of the room.
At their orphanage, Mi ette and Jeannot and the other orphans turn over their earnings
to the women known as La Pieuve. Outside, One comes across Rufus, who is asleep. He
locates Mi ette inside, but makes some noise and alerts the guard dog. La Pieuve instructs the
orphans on their next thieving mission, but are interrupted by One. Later that evening,
One has been recruited to go on the mission with the orphans. Using a rat to get the door key, they
steal a safe and evade the police. They open up the safe, but One isn't happy about stealing.
One sees one of the Cyclops gangs' vehicles and runs after it. Mi ette goes to chase after One,
and he tells her his brother has been kidnapped. Miette tells One that she already knows where
the vehicle is going. One suggests they go together and tells her about how he first met
his little brother. Mi ette leaves One, but comes back to get him.
Back at the orphanage, La Pieuve is furious One and Mi ette haven't returned.
Meanwhile at the laboratory, Krank summons a Clone to tell him about a dream the Clone
has had. One of the clones also brings a child to Irvin. The Clone asks Irvin if there indeed
is an original version of the clones, one that is different from the others. Irvin instructs
the Clone to access the child's dreams, and claims this Clone to be the Original,
but is lying. Kraft finally goes to sleep, and the Clone connects himself to the dream
extractor. He then gets up and retrieves the canister of dreams. Irvin tells the Clone
he is to throw the canister into the sea. Elsewhere, Mi ette and One sneak into
the Cyclops gang's headquarters. One is spotted, but his disguise keeps him safe.
Further inside, Cyclops Gang leader Gabriel Marie is preaching the gang's doctrine.
A group of children, including Denree, are brought before Bismuth. Bismuth inspects the children
as One and Mi ette sneak in through the ceiling. Gabriel continues to speak, but One interrupts,
rushing to rescue Denree. Mi ette follows him, but both are quickly captured.
At the orphanage, La Pieuve receives information on Mi ette and One's whereabouts. They are
also told the location where the pair will be killed the next night.
In the lab, Krank talks with Irvin. Irvin tells him that Krank is the source of the children
having nightmares when he tries to extract their dreams. Irvin further claims that Krank
doesn't have a Soul, much to Krank’s offense. Krank becomes enraged and goes to leave.
Bismuth and the Clones get ready for Christmas, wrapping presents and decorating. Krank asks
Bismuth if they are doing the right thing and Irwin tells him he has nothing to worry about.
La Pieuve goes to find Marcello to hire him for a job, but he refuses. The pair
instruct him to find One and Mi ette, and he finally agrees. Marcello gathers his tools,
trained fleas to which he has given a mind control poison to inject into his victims.
Back at the lab, Krank tries unsuccessfully to bring joy to the children he has taken.
The children cry more and more, and Krank turns his fury on the clones.
At the docks, One and Mi ette are set to be killed.
Some of the gang members make bets on who will survive the longest. Amidst their gambling,
one of Marcello's fleas poisons a gang member. Marcello plays the music controlling the fleas
and soon takes mind control over the poisoned gang member.
The poisoned gang member kills two more guys. Marcello then goes to save One who wants him to
save Miette instead. Untying One, Marcello is too late to save Mi ette as she falls into the water.
She sinks further and further down, but comes across a diver underneath the water
who takes her away. Bringing her to his home,
we come to see that the diner is the actual Original Le Scaphandrier. He searches the
surface to see One and Marcello paddling away. Mi ette finally comes to and recognizes him but he
brushes it off. The Original says someone on the surface wants to kill him but he can't remember
who. Showing off his treasure collection, Mi ette recognizes the safe her group had
stolen some days ago. Miette thanks him and goes to leave. She accidentally uncovers a
lot of children's toys and the Original tells her of the devil, which is Krank
who takes away the city's children. The Original instructs her to look for a tattooed man who has
the map to Krank’s Laboratory. Miette scans the surface above seeing Denree in the distance.
Meanwhile at a local bar, Marcello and One drown their sorrows with some drinks. Marcello asks a
bar woman named Lune to take care of One, and leaves. Lune tries to flirt with One but he is
inconsolable. Outside, Marcello calls La Pieuve, informing her to get ready to capture One.
Elsewhere, Mi ette makes her way to the surface. Hiding, she accidentally runs into her friends.
She apologizes, informing her friends that the Cyclops gang are stealing children. Her friends
tell him that One isn't concerned about the children and is picking up women at the bar.
At the bar, One is drinking heavily with Lune, seemingly in better spirits. Mi ette enters the
bar and scolds One for behaving irresponsibly. She also informs him she knows where his brother is,
but he passes out drunk. Marcello can't believe she's alive, and Miette recruits him to help her
take One out of the bar. She also reveals that she knows Marcello had betrayed her and he apologizes.
Outside, Rufus arrives, honking his horn and Marcello tells Miette to run.
One is taken away by Rufus's men as the orphans watch in hiding. Jeanno uses some heavy machinery
to quickly grab One before he is taken away. Having secured One, the other orphans ask Mi ette
why she is spending so much time with him. She reprimands them and they sadly walk away, leaving
her with One. She sits with One, as one of the dreams stolen by one of The Clones from earlier,
falls into the hands of The Original. Later, Mi ette and One try to sleep,
and One opens up about his past before he was a strong man for the carnival. He reveals he was a
whale hunter until he grew too soft for the job and got fired. Mi ette asks one what it's
like to have a little brother and One tells her that she is now part of his family as well.
Elsewhere, The Original is sleeping but is woken up by a disturbance.
This causes the dream canister to break and lets the dreams be emitted into the room. They enter
into The Original and he has dreams about Krank and his lab. In a series of flashbacks, we see
The Original get into a physical altercation with Krank. Bismuth also attacks The Original,
and they throw him into the sea. The dreams make their way up to the surface and roll
throughout the city. The dreams go from window to window waking up children with nightmares.
The dreams make their way to Miette, who then wakes up with a fright. She tells One of her
dreams and asks for his help to find a map. At sea, two of The Clones are transporting some
stolen children, including Denree. After the children are fed, La Pieuvre and Rufus are
hurting Marcello for information on One's whereabouts. La Pieuvre takes his fleas
and leaves him to his fate with Rufus. In the lab, Denree sneaks into the kitchen
and eats a plate of food meant for Krank. He is then spotted and Krank also tries to scare Denree
as a joke, but Denree is unbothered. Krank comes to the confusion that Denree is the
child he needs to extract dreams from. In the city, One and Miette go to locate
the tattooed man but Miette is tired and sits down. One massages her feet and she asks what
he will do once Denree is found. He then carries her through the city as they continue on.
At the shop, Miette asks the tattoo artist where to find the tattooed man. After offering
a necklace as payment, they come to find that the artist is the tattooed man himself.
Back at the laboratory, one of The Clones and Bismuth sees activity on their sonar scanner.
Irwin claims it to be the Messiah coming to save them but Bismuth brushes it off.
One and Miette steal a boat, but before they leave, one of Marcello's fleas poisons One,
under La Pieuvre's command. La Pieuvre demands the jewels that were stolen from the safe,
and Miette gives them. La Pieuvre takes control over One, who attacks Miette. He almost kills her,
but one of her tears sets off a miraculous chain of events that result in a shipwreck that frees
One from their control. One and Miette hug, but are spotted by La Pieuvre. Marcello's flea
makes its way back to its owner and tells him all that has transpired.
La Pieuvre pours oil in the water to finish One and Miette off, but are suddenly poisoned by
the fleas. They start fighting themselves, falling into their own trap and dying.
One and Miette navigate the mines to Krank's laboratory, while Krank prepares to steal
Denree's dreams. Bismuth and The Clone see that The Original has arrived at the Lab. One and
Miette also arrive, making their way up. Attaching her to his sweater, Miette goes off to search the
area. Miette makes her way up the stairs and is spotted by Bismuth. One is surprised by some
of The Clones but dispatches them easily. Elsewhere, Bismuth takes aim to kill Miette,
but The Original shoots and stops her. He tells Miette to run away. The Original prepares some
explosives to bring down the Lab. He enlists the clones' help and they leave. Bismuth directs
Miette to where the children are being kept, but activates a trapdoor. One saves Miette in
the nick of time, but falls in the trap door himself. Miette arrives at where Krank is,
and begins to speak with Irwin. Irwin instructs her to go inside Denree's dream
to save him from Krank. Inside the dream, Miette grabs Denree, but he transforms
into Krank. Miette offers to take Denree's place in the dream, and Krank agrees.
Meanwhile, The Original finds One, injured from the fall.
Miette takes Denree's place, aging rapidly as Krank grows more youthful.
She becomes an old woman, while Krank reverts to a baby. Miette exits the dream,
while Krank is stuck in a time loop, unable to exit the dream, and his mind ends up broken.
One wakes up Miette, while The Original has strapped himself to
the Laboratory with the explosives. One and the children rush to leave,
as well as Irwin and The Clones. They all make it outside, as The Original realizes his mistake.
A bird lands on the detonator, and everything explodes and the groups leave safely.
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