Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrman, 2001)

It's hard to know where to start...

"Moulin Rouge" is a famous nightclub in Paris, built in 1889. Even now, it is still a huge tourist attraction, as it reportedly retains its turn-of-the-last-century flavour in its architecture and its fare.

The movie is set at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in 1889. It is a wonderful place, full of spectacle, with lots of vibrant colour. The main attraction is the bevy of dancing girls doing the can-can and other dances with high kicks that were considered risqué back in the day.

The plot goes something like this. Christian (Ewan McGregor) is an idealistic young English writer who comes to Paris to join in on all the fun and excitement of the "bohemian revolution" that he has heard so much about. He manages to hook up with a group of bohemians who are trying to produce a play for the Moulin Rouge. When they discover that he writes a lot better than they do, they make him the head writer for their project.

When the bohemians go to present the play to the owner of the nightclub, the club's star performer Satine (Nicole Kidman) mistakes Christian for the duke who's bankrolling the project, and hatches a plan to use the play to launch herself into an acting career, to get away from being a can-can girl. Naturally, she falls in love with Christian.

The real Duke shows up, but by this time Satine is in love with Christian. However, they must hide it, since the Duke has the hots for Satine himself.

Oh, and Satine has tuberculosis. A terminal case of it.

Basically, what we have here is a Romeo-and-Juliet type story of two lovers from different worlds who must keep their love a secret. Okay, we've seen this before, but that plot can still work if it's well done. (West Side Story, anyone?)

So far, we've covered the plot and the setting. The plot, old news, riddled with clichés. (Satine dying of tuberculosis? Give me a break.) The setting, exciting and exotic, very colourful and lavish.

But what really sets this movie apart is the music. The music of France at the very end of the 19th Century is nowhere to be heard. Rather, what we get are bad rehashes of contemporary pop songs, worked into the plot. You haven't heard Madonna's "Like a Virgin" until you've heard it sung by the very large ringmaster of the Moulin Rouge. Or how about a large crowd of men in tuxedos, tails, and top hats screaming "Here we are now, entertain us!" from Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"?

I quickly came to realize that the only way to appreciate this movie is that I should have taken a large quantity of recreational pharmaceuticals before viewing. Combining Paris of 1900 with modern pop songs is right up there with a movie I saw years ago (whose title I can't remember), set in mediaeval times, that had a pulse-pounding techno soundtrack. They go together like strawberries and dijon mustard. And the music in this movie had the same dissonant effect.

Oh, there are a couple of bright spots. John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec is a scream, hammily overacting the part as if he knew what kind of movie this is. On the other hand, Ewan McGregor kind of disappears into the background. Nicole Kidman does well, but then she's already proven her versatility for the screen. She can even sing not too badly. (Which is more than we can say for poor Ewan.)

As for the music, there's everything from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music" to David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" in here, along with songs such as "Roxanne" (The Police), "Material Girl" (Madonna again), and "Your Song" (Elton John). Some of the songs are in their entirety, some are part of a medley, and some are just snippets here and there. It's hopelessly chaotic (though "Roxanne", done as a tango, is one of the film's best moments).

The end result is a hopeless mess. This wouldn't be the first time someone has tried this shtick, using pop songs to tell a story. Thirty years ago, some deranged film producer made a movie consisting of nothing but Beatles songs, sung by The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton and even George Burns, telling some sappy story in a debacle called Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. (Aerosmith's cover of "Come Together" was the film's only saving grace.)

More recently, I saw an opera by P.D.Q. Bach (the satirical alter ego of musician Peter Schickele) in which snippets from pop songs were woven into the libretto. But there, Schickele's intent was humour. I saw no such intent here. All I saw was an overblown spectacle laid over a hackneyed plot.

There’s so much chaos thrown at you during the first 10 minutes or so of MOULIN ROUGE! that you either lose interest or continue on intrigued.  If you continue on, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most visually amazing films of the decade and a decadent musical (and this is coming from someone who detest musicals). Nicole Kidman is a wilting flower hiding under a smoldering temptress’ can-can outfit, while Ewan Mcgregor love-sick penniless writer gives what may be, the most affecting and most powerful portray of someone truly madly deeply in love.  By the time the curtain falls and his heart breaks, yours breaks right along with his.

The final film of his ‘Red Curtain Trilogy’ which includes his debut, Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! is without question, the most accomplished Baz Luhrmann picture thus far. Winning two Oscars for Art Direction-Set Decoration and Costume Design, and nominated for six other Oscars including Best Picture, Moulin Rouge! premiered at Cannes to rousing critical acclaim. It redefined the modern musical and was perhaps an influence in Rob Marshall’s Chicago (2002) winning the Best Picture the following year.
 
Moulin Rouge! stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in leading roles as forbidden lovers. McGregor plays Christian, a low-key writer of plays who moves to Paris in search for writing opportunities. He stumbles onto an underground circus of sorts, a strange, erotic arena where eccentric people in weird costumes party and dance away into the night. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge, Paris 1890s. Kidman’s Satine is the star of the underground act, an energetic performer of graceful movements and sensual shuffles. Unfortunately, as we learn early in the film, Satine is dying from tuberculosis (Christian is unaware of her condition though).
 
The tragi-romance narrative is rather straightforward and simplistic, and beyond its oddball but typecast characters, it somewhat lacks depth. Luhrmann knows the shortcomings of such a paper-thin storyline; he attempts to mask them by opting for a wild, fantastical style that has become the film’s most unforgettable hallmark. Moulin Rouge! carries us back in time into a world of ethereal beauty and peculiar dreamscape. We see a singing moon, lead characters performing a duet amongst the clouds and many more scenes that suspend logic and believability.
 
The editing in Moulin Rouge! is quick and frenetic especially during its ‘musical’ sequences. It probably has more cuts per second than any other contemporary film in recent memory. This dazzling, breathless flamboyance is further enhanced through the use of vivid colors. It was as if Luhrmann had directed the film with the lush strokes of a paintbrush, and as a result created a beautiful mosaic of eclectic images. Besides being visually stunning, the film also boasts an amazing soundtrack to boot.
 
Although set in the late 19th century, the songs sung by the film’s characters are taken from contemporary culture. They are remixed into an arrangement that is at once fresh and original. While some songs are ad-libbed, most of them are vocalized by the cast themselves. If I may add, Kidman’s gutsy display is the best in the film and is probably one of her top three performances of her career. Moulin Rouge! is inventive, innovative, and just simply stupendous filmmaking. Luhrmann has given us arguably the best musical romance of the decade.
 
SCORE: 8.5/10
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I don’t care what you people say, I FREAKIN’ LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!
Satine (Nicole Kidman), the star of the Moulin Rouge and the city’s  most famous courtesan, is caught between the love of a young writer and  another man’s obsession. Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a writer who finds  himself plunged into this decadent world where anything goes – except  falling in love.

When it comes to some of the greatest musicals of all-time, I think  this would have a nice spot on my list.

I love this movie just because of how it is, without being anything  else. Director Baz Luhrmann is the real star of this movie because he  doesn’t follow all these other musicals that are known. He uses licensed  songs such as “Like A Virgin”, “Heroes”, and “Your Song”. The film  isn’t afraid to be silly when it needs to but its not all the fun that  gets this film really at me, its more about the true story of love. The  film is so original with everything it does, because it doesn’t play by  the same rules all other musicals do, it basically is laying down the  ground that this is what film should be: fun. It has a plot from 1400s  operas, look from 1950s broadway productions, and it has a visual style  from current music videos.

The film obviously takes some notes from Romeo & Juliet (Luhrmann  directed that back in 1996), because this is also about forbidden love,  but is also about the joys and also the tragic heart-breaks that love  can effect you with.

I have to mostly credit the way this film looks cause this world that  they live in, is very unrealistic, but it seems all too much fun. I  actually wanted to go there and live in this place as this film was  going on. The set designs look so lavish, with all the beautiful colors  and costumes coming right at you, bringing this whole world of fun,  love, and heart break to glorious life.

The songs are what makes this film great, because as I mentioned  before, its licensed songs. The songs that they choose for these  particular moments in the film, work so well, and actually seem like  they could be real songs that these people were actually singing. They  combine a lot of different variety of music, like “Smells Like Teen  Spirit” and “Roxanne” but most of it all works so well here.

The performances from this whole cast are just stunning, cause not  only is it their real acting that’s good, but all of them can basically  sing. McGregor plays his lead character with so much charm, but yet so  much unknowings about love, and thats why it makes him a great  protagonist to cheer for. The real show here is Kidman who is just a  total knock-out with her performance. She plays this character with so  much beauty, charisma, and also tragedy without once hamming it up for  the camera. The way the two interact with each other on-screen seems so  real and genuine that its hard not to want these two together in the  end. If anything the only problem I had with this film was that its main  villain played by Richard Roxburgh seemed too cartoonish at points, and  I couldn’t take him seriously as a bad guy.

Consensus: Moulin Rouge! is a musical that is fun,  energetic, and so original with an inspired direction from Luhrmann,  beautiful performances from McGregor and Kidman, and great look, feel,  and sound that its hard not to love this film and hail it as one f the  all-time best.

10/10=Full Pricee!!!!

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I’ve always known about Moulin Rouge, the musical, but to this day, I still haven’t seen it. That could be a good or bad thing when ti comes to my opinion of this film. Quite obviously, this isn’t your typical musical, many of the songs are sprinkled with pieces of modern music, something that you rarely, if ever get in your standard musical, but it really works for this film, and may contribute to its success.
Baz Luhrman’s direction is lighthearted and fun. I’m sure there are other directors that would have taken this and turned it into either some sort of soft core porn or dark film, yet Lurhman decides to do neither, but treats the audience to lots of bright colors and costumes that immediately catch the audiences eye.
Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman are spectacular as the leads. I’m not sure if they were really singing or not. I’ve heard talk from both sides of the coin on that topic. It matters not to me. They’re actors, not singers. No shame in getting someone else to sing the vocal parts as far as I’m concerned.
Richard Roxburgh is excellent as the Duke. Apparently, his career has been made on his playing villains, so this was just another day at the office for him, but I was still impressed. As talented an actor as he is, it is his facial expressions that really sold his character for me.
I mentioned earlier about the colors used in this film, but neglected to mention how impressively beautiful the set designs are. Obviously, the bulk of the film takes place inside the Moulin Rouge. The set designers outdid themselves with that one.
I know that not everyone is a fan of musicals, and that’s alright, but this one of those rare films that makes you forget its genre and just enjoy it for what it is. It is a masterful work of art that may not be the best work of cinema, it is still worth watching.

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