Moulin Rouge

At the risk of sounding overly bombastic, "Moulin Rouge" is the best film I've seen all year, perhaps the best one I've seen in over a year. It is operatic in the best sense of the word, being at once massively outlandish and deeply personal. It is clear that a lot of people took career risks in choosing this film, and although "Moulin Rouge" may not rack up a huge box office, I think this film will become a classic alongside his other two films "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo + Juliet."

In the showing of "Moulin Rouge" I saw last week, at least 5 people walked out. At the same time I heard audience members audibly gasping at the films visuals and talking back to the screen. The source of these strong reactions? Baz Luhrmann's confidence in his garish cinematic vision and the commitment his actors have in him. The cast fills their roles with relish, even when the entire scene totters on the edge of overkill--but oddly enough, it is the focus that sets "Moulin Rouge" apart from other films these days. Whereas some actors sleepwalk through their roles as they collect their paychecks, everything about "Moulin Rouge" is done in earnest.

This movie is the anti-"Pearl Harbor," because instead of being a hodgepodge of market-tested ideas, "Moulin Rouge" presents a bold vision and dares the audience to accept or reject it. I, for one, accepted it with delight. A telling comparison: Luhrmann has Nicole Kidman and Ewen MacGregor sing the film's love song. Very daring. For "Pearl Harbor" Michael Bay chose Faith Hill. Very safe. Too safe. Can you imagine Ben Afleck belting out "There You'll Be"?

"Moulin Rouge" glitters with such bold decisions. It is a sumptuous feast for ear and eye featuring gorgeous costumes, intricate sets (Nicole Kidman's boudoir in a gigantic elephant is a case in point), and outlandishly choreographed dance numbers are paraded with frenetic relish. And the music, the MUSIC! As you probably know by now, Luhrmann has thrown into his period piece a collage of musical snippets from, among many bits, "The Sound of Music," Madonna, The Police, and Elton John. In most cases, no one song gets performed without intersplicing. Witness Luhrmann's audacity: the opening number includes a melding of Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." And here's the spooky part: it works.

The entire movie plays this way, and for the most part it works. Most surpising is that "Moulin Rouge" has a solid, deeply sincere emotional core. Although the film professes to be about love, I'd add that it is equally about loss. The Moulin Rouge is a playground where adults pretend they are children with the added spice of sensuality.

All the performances are excellent, but the hidden gem is Jim Broadbent as Zidler. Broadbent for years has been doing majestically understated supporting work, from "Brazil" to "Enchanted April" to "Topsy-Turvy." In "Moulin Rouge" he manages to be both repulsive and endearing. His spirited rendition of "Like a Virgin" is classic. Too bad it's not on the soundtrack.

Expect to be overwhelmed by "Moulin Rouge" in the most unexpected, delightful ways. It will make you wonder why other films can't or won't dare to be that bold.

I wonder if that line from the Duke "I don't care about your ridiculous dogma" was directed to Lars Von Triar. It could be, the film is full of knowing lines "He could make you a star and you're dallying with the writer!" or "They dressed me with the Argentinean's best clothes and passed me for a famous English writer" There is something of Ken Russell's second period in "Moulin Rouge" Everything is emphasized, underlined and repeated at least three times for safety. Excess seem a rather feeble term to describe it and yet, it works. The film, for the most part, is a delight. Nicole Kidman, ravishing and spectacular, spectacular. Ewan McGregor, superb, and so charismatic that no one would blame me if I confess I had a had crush on him as soon as he broke into "The Hills are alive with the sound of music..." Kidman and McGregor, this film proves it, are the closest thing we've had in years to the big stars of yesteryear. They could make anything shine and they have. Another detail that shouldn't go amiss, "Moulin Rouge" opened the door again for musicals and that's always a good thing even if we're bound to be bombarded by some terrible stuff. I say it doesn't matter as long as it allows glorious film talents of the caliber of Kidman and McGregor to give us the pleasures they have even in a bag of wind such as "Moulin Rouge"

This movie blew my mind. Watch it, then watch it again. 'Moulin Rouge' made me laugh, cry, and dream. It's boldness and confidence to produce something so original and different impressed me. At times the scenery was as surreal as something you would experience in a dream, which only makes this movie more amazing. 'Moulin Rouge' shows love from all angles. It includes the raw passion, infatuation, vehemence, intensity, ecstasy, jealousy, and pain that is found in true love. The acting was staggering. Ewan McGregor is unrealistically perfect, combining sweet innocence with masculinity. Kidman perfectly brings out the seductive side of Satine, yet never loses the vulnerable soul that lies behind it. Roxburgh(The Duke) and Leguizamo(Lautrec) bring out just the right amount of comic relief in this intense drama. There is nothing I would change about this movie. One warning, though: Moulin Rouge is not for the artistically deprived. It is quite a contemporary movie, so you may not like it if you prefer to watch simple movies(ex. 'American Pie', 'Scary Movie').

If you look at the story in an emotionless way then it is 'La Dame aux Camélias' meets contemporary music in an abundantly colourful background.

Only I can't look at it emotionlessly. It is just too spectacularly wonderful!

For me, this film lets euphoria take possession of me! It flows all through me and I feel sadness and bliss at the same time as it has me both smiling and crying ecstatically. It makes me yearn for "La grande passion" and, at the same time, feel that passion through Satine and Christian.

This is perfection!

Moulin Rouge portrays a complicated, passionate and powerful love story, that is also incredibly moving. I am 17, and I thought the film was near-perfect, I mean I loved the overall look of the film with its gorgeous costumes, dazzling choreography and sumptuous cinematography. The script was very poetic, especially when Christian is comparing Satine, the beautiful courtesan to a "sparkling diamond", and when Toulouse exclaims "I hope the piano is tuned". The songs are wonderful, particularly "Come What May" and "The Show Must Go On", and everybody in the cast does their own singing, and I honestly didn't know Ewen MacGregor could sing, he has an amazing voice. I have heard too many complaints saying there are too many songs, but do bear in mind it is a musical, and to me, being an aspiring singer, music is like poetry, and very often is the best way to describe your mood. I thought the performances were brilliant. Ewen MacGregor is very earnest and likable as always as Christian, and Nicole Kidman is both fabulously sexy and wonderfully tragic as the consumptive Satine, and the character's death scene was quite heart-rending, and was very reminiscent of the Greta Garbo movie Camille(which I will admit I like more). I also liked the performances of Jim Broadbent as the sympathetic Ziegler and Richard Roxburgh as the wily duke. However there were one or two aspects that were extremely silly, like the hilarious Can Can scene as well as the duet between Ziegler and the Duke, and compared to Jose Ferrer's more poignant portrayal as Toulouse in the 1952 version, John Leguizamo as the character mayn't be to everyone's taste. Overall, a beautiful extravagant film with a 9/10. Bethany Cox