Moulin Rouge!

-Story-

Moulin Rouge tells the tragic love story of a young Bohemian writer at the turn of the century (1900) in Paris and how his true love for a showgirl can overcome all odds; well almost all. The setting is perfect, children of the poetic revolution living in free and colourful times; exploring truth, beauty, and love. A marvellous set up, the Moulin Rogue itself is a masterpiece of storytelling.

First, we meet Christian, a downtrodden writer who has moved to Paris to escape his tyrannical father and find his place in a world that has forgotten the meaning of love. He gets entangled with Toulouse Lautrec, famed Bohemian savant, and through a series of comic mishaps finds himself writing a whimsical and beautiful play: Spectacular, Spectacular! He finds himself at the epicentre of an artists revolution, and he will be their voice. But of course there is always a woman, Satine, a showgirl at the Moulin Rouge; the most extravagant, deplorable, fascinating, fantastic cabaret nightclub in all of Paris. Satine, for Christian is light, and love, and truth. She is the reason for all his writing and she inspires him to greatness. Life is hard though, and Satine and Christian’s love is threatened by both circumstantial and physical forces. Can either of them really forget who they really are, can their love really withstand the realities of life? Will they be forced to abandon their ideals, the moral fibre that fires their cause? Tragic and beautiful, Christian and Satine’s love must stand their trials, come what may…

Oh, and did I mention that this is a musical? Oh yes. The film captures these hard emotions with the raw energy of mostly modern and some not so modern songs. Culled from all over the place but packaged for the most part like they’ve always belonged here, the theatrical flavour endued expresses the heroism and hardships of love excellently. This film has heart, and balls; it doesn’t quit and even when elements don’t work so well, the story just manages to push us through. Even near the end of the film when the story falters and weakens at times, we still care for these characters. We want them to succeed we want their love to be timeless, because it love is like art, we need to believe in its magic.

Ok, there’s a number of things that need to be addressed here. Firstly and I think most importantly the Art Department should be recognized, Ann-Marie Beauchamp, the Art Director, Brigitte Broch, the Set Decorator, and Catherine Martin with Agnus Strathie, the costume designers; all did stand out fantastic work. The sets are like something out of a dream, beautiful, elaborate, and magnificent, the Moulin Rouge itself is breathtaking, but the entire area; the section of Paris they built is fantastic. I highly doubt that even at it’s heyday the Moulin Rouge the surrounding area actually looked as amazing and interesting as it does in this film, but it works. I suppose it comes down to a stylistic interpretation. The story is about art, and to artists there is beauty everywhere, there has to be. The crewmembers I’ve listed above, definitely went above and beyond creating a magical place containing beautiful, and interesting people That said, the costumes really must be mentioned. They were delicate and stylish, period pieces, but modern feeling. The character are glamorous, opulent, poor and tormented; and we can feel this in their clothing. A wonderful expression, the freedom here is amazing.

The other major aspect of the overall look that should be addressed here is the cinematography; by Donald McAlpine. The colours are beautiful, vibrant and alive. The use of shadows reflects the tones and emotions of out characters. And the camera placement itself is inspired. This coupled with some very sharp editing managed to produce a wondrous look that dazzles and engages. Brilliant work on all accounts; it’s no wonder that Moulin Rouge won the Acadamy Award for best Art Direction, and Costume Design, as well as being nominated for Cinematography, Make-up, and Editing.

If you could only say one thing about the actors in this movie, it would have to be that they’ve all got some serious guts. This film puts it’s actors on the line throughout. I would have to call the performances, especially by Ewan McGregor, and Nichole Kidman simply fearless. Actor’s who aren’t known for singing here obviously give it their all. It’s an emotionally charged, almost electric spectacle, and I can’t imagine this film working any other way. If anyone in this cast hadn’t tried their hardest I think the whole thing would have fallen flat. It is a breathtaking display. McGregor is charisma incarnate, and Kidman is beautiful and hurt. All the players are fantastically good; and special mention should go to John Leguizamo, playing the very real and disturbed Bohemian poet Touluse Lautrec. A great character actor he breathes life and truth into a challenging role.

Of course we cannot forget the work of Baz Luhrmann, the director.He has made 3 films over ten years, (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge) and while that may seem inordinately small, every single one of them has been brilliant and inspirational. Here, as in his other work he shows a brilliant talent for creating a totally believable fantasy world, and making it seem real. One of the most intelligent decisions a director can make is to surround himself with the best talent available, and Luhrmann has quite the eye for it. The actors work flawlessly together and the script, which he wrote himself, is cunning and tight. I appreciate the fact that he must invest a lot of himself into his work, because this film, like his others seems to dance with a life all it’s own. This is a great piece of work by a brilliant director. Now I just can’t wait for his next film, a telling of the epic life of Alexander the Great.

I obviously loved this film, but I know that it rubs some people completely the wrong way. Maybe it’s the theatrical nature of the storytelling, or the surrealistic artistic vision; but I think when it comes down to it this film is very brave. It goes in directions no one could ever anticipate and leaves me, at least, wanting more.