"The problem with enrolling yourself as an ultrasonic epistemic dissident is that if Bach's talent can be reduced to his gender, birth country, religion, sexuality, and so on, then so can yours. Now, some day, Max, when you go out into the world, and you guest conduct for a major or minor orchestra, you may notice that the players have more than light bulbs and music on their stands. They will also have been handed rating sheets - the purpose of which is to rate you. Now, what kind of criteria would you hope that they use to do this? Your score reading and stick technique, or something else?"

"Eliot Kaplan: The last thing I need is to be buttonholed in here by someone exactly like me."

"Don't be so eager to be offended. The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring kind of conformity."

"You want to dance the mask, you must service the composer. You gotta sublimate yourself, your ego, and, yes, your identity. You must, in fact, stand in front of the public and God and obliterate yourself."

"Allan Corduner - Sebastian Brix"

"It is always the question that involves the listener, never the answer."

"There's no glory for a robot, Eliot. Do your own thing!"

"Fatigue. Hypothermia. Death."

"Niklaus Lange as Zach"

"Ali Hillis as Lauren"

"Susan May Pratt as Amy"

"Richard Speight Jr. as James"

"Cameron Richardson as Michelle"

"Eric Dane as Dan"

"Marika Enstad as the Oldest Princess."

"Helge Jordal as the Devil."

"Kristin Mack as the Middle Princess."

"Monica Nordquist as King Valemon's Mother."

"Anna-Lotta Larsson as Witch."

"Jack Fjeldstad as the King of the Winterland."

"Maria Bonnevie as Princess."

"Tobias Hoesl as King Valemon."

"László Tahi Tóth as Gildas"

"László Görög as Gwizdo"

"István Hajdu (Steve) as Lian-Chu"

"Lilla Hermann as Zoé"

"Gábor Reviczky as Lord Arnold"

"Forest Whitaker as Lian-Chu"

"Philippe Nahon as Lord Arnold"

"Amanda Lear as Gildas"

"Mary Mouser as Zoé"

"Jeremy Prevost as Hector"

"Jean-Marc Lentretien as Mamular"

"Rob Paulsen as Gwizdo, and Sir Lensflair"

"Frank Welker as The World Gobbler"

"Jess Harnell as Gildas"

"Dave Wittenberg as Hector"

"Vincent Lindon as Lian-Chu"

"Patrick Timsit as Gwizdo"

"Marie Drion as Zoé"

"Nick Jameson as Lord Arnold"

"From Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, the distinctive French wunderkinder responsible for 1991's dazzling genre-bender Delicatessen, comes this similarly eye-popping effort, The City of Lost Children—a film at least equal to its predecessor in terms of sheer style, imagination, and invention, even if it doesn't hold together as well structurally. The movie follows the adventures of a brave nine-year-old girl who teams up with a gentle, simpleminded strongman in order to rescue her younger brother, who has been kidnapped, along with a handful of other kids, by a sad, rapidly aging old man named Krank, who uses his scientific genius to project himself into the world of the children's dreams in a vain attempt to liven up his dreadfully bleak existence on his secluded island fortress. The City of Lost Children fancies itself a fairy tale—albeit a dark and scary Brothers Grimm-styled one—and, were it not for a few isolated moments of icky violence and questionable sexual overtones, it would make a fine children's picture. However, in its current form, we have a movie charming enough to capture the simple magic of Méliès' A Trip to the Moon, yet high-tech enough to feature special-effects wizardry worthy of anything in Jurassic Park; sophisticated enough to grasp Terry Gilliam's jovial sense of cynicism, but wide-eyed enough to evoke a child's innocuous way of looking at things (even though it's still gleefully hip enough to swipe a sight gag from Stephen Sayadian's sexed-up “remake” of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). In short, we have a movie jam-packed with enough strange characters and wild mythologies for at least three films; ironically, therein lies both the picture's greatest strength and its most grating weakness. While it's undeniably wonderful to be presented with such a full palette, the sensory overload that inevitably occurs as the film progresses can't help but distance one from both the characters and the (admittedly marvelous) world they inhabit."

"If I were to judge this film solely on its visuals, it would get an unqualified rave, no questions asked. It's only when I start to think about the story and the tone that my enthusiasm inches downward, because it's done more as an exercise than as a narrative you're meant to care about. Maybe the ultimate destination of "City of Lost Children" isn't in movie theaters at all, but on one of those video wall panels like Bill Gates is installing in his new house; you'd see an amazing image every time you walked past, and occasionally you'd linger for as many more astonishing sights as you felt capable of absorbing. The movie is an expensive, high-tech French production, using more special effects than any other French film in history, and it is appropriate that a lot of its look seems inspired by that Parisian visionary, Jules Verne. It takes place not so much in the future (or even in the dated but vivid "future" as seen by Verne) as in a sort of parallel time zone, where there are recognizable elements of our world, violently rearranged. The co-directors, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, created a similar visual extravaganza in their first feature, "Delicatessen," a 1991 fantasy about cannibalism."

"Geneviève Brunet ~ the Octopus"

"Dominique Pinon ~ Clones/Diver"

"Indie Wire: I was thinking about “Delcatessen” and “The City of Lost Children.” While they are dark, they also have happy endings for the characters who deserve them. So, in that sense, maybe you’ve been sentimental and optimistic all along?"

"Krank, an evil inventor incapable of dreaming, kidnaps children hoping to steal their dreams - but can only retract their nightmares. But when the adoptive younger brother of circus strongman One is taken, One teams up with thief Miette to stage a daring rescue."

"On the one hand, capitalism is presented as enabling self-interest and freedom, as exemplified by the freedom to produce scientific developments (Krank), pursue religious ideas (the Cyclopses), and seek wealth (the Octopus). On the other hand, it exposes the deplorable effects of capitalism ... the exploitation of childhood (the cynical orphans), of tenderness (the Original scientist, attacked and turned out by his own beloved creations), and of innocence (the terrified children whose dreams are stolen) while suggesting that there is no place in capitalism for originality, disinterestedness, duty, self-reflective analysis, and other defining aspects of "the human.""

"Luc Besson's "The Professional" shows the love of a brute (Jean Reno) and an adolescent (Natalie Portman). Here, could one say as well that there is a love story between One and Miette, especially as evoked in the dialogue?"