Moulin Rouge

Baz Luhrmann, Australia/USA, 2001, 127 minutes

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor.

Set in the famous Parisian nightclub, Moulin Rouge! is an extravagant vision of the glamorous underworld during the close of the nineteenth century. Innocent poet Christian (Ewan McGregor) finds himself drawn into a bohemian world of sex, entertainment and absinthe. With a gang of fellow bohemians, including Toulouse-Lautrec, and a narcoleptic Argentinean, he joins a world that mixes the power of the aristocracy with the seedy but glamorous world of courtesans and dancers. He quickly finds out that in anything goes except falling in love. Tragically, he makes this very mistake with the most famous dancer in the Moulin Rouge, Satine (Nicole Kidman). However, Satine is trapped by the obsession of another man and the rule that a courtesan never falls in love. While her health deteriorates, Satine and Christian's love affair grows, but can they continue it secretly under the jealous eyes of the Duke?

Although slightly cheesy, the love affair is convincingly portrayed by McGregor and Kidman with a real chemistry between them. Unlike other actors, they can actually sing, and do credit to Luhrmann's revamping of some old classics. The supporting characters, particularly John Leguizamo who plays Toulouse-Lautrec, give good performances, but are some what overshadowed by the two leads. Moulin Rouge! is the third film in a series (entitled the Red Curtain Trilogy) that began with Strictly Ballroom, followed by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 1996. Like these, this film is basically a tragedy and comedy, but Luhrmann adds another dimension by making Moulin Rouge! as a musical. This allows him to create some of the strangest but most engaging versions of songs by modern artists such as Madonna and Sting. What could have turned out embarrassing, actually comes across very well, particularly good are "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and "Like a Virgin", which are cleverly worked into the story. In the words of Luhrmann himself "Moulin Rouge is fundamentally a musical, perhaps an opera, but finally a story told through song".

Review by Lindsay MacDonald
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2002