This is a fairy tale with rust under its fingernails.

A scientist on a platform in a fog-bound sea cannot dream, causing him to age at an accelerated rate. He sends goggle-eyed henchmen ashore to abduct children and siphon the dreams out of them while they sleep.

THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, the 1995 fantasy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, builds an entire universe around that single nightmare image.

A circus strongman named One, played by Ron Perlman in halting French, goes looking for his kidnapped little brother. His ally is Miette, a nine-year-old orphan and pickpocket far tougher than he is. Around them swarm cloned brothers who all look identical, conjoined sisters running a child-theft ring, a brain in a tank, and a cult of men who have traded their eyes for cameras.

Darius Khondji shot the film in sickly golds and greens, Jean Paul Gaultier designed the costumes, Angelo Badalamenti scored it.

It was the most expensive French film of its day, and every franc is up on screen.