Moulin Rouge: Amor em Vermelho

You can't compare Chicago to Moulin Rouge, because they share, really, nothing besides the fact that people sing and dance. Moulin Rouge stands alone. I really love this movie.

Nicole Kidman did sorta over act in parts (the Elephant scene, and when she tells Zidler she wants to leave.), but other than that, the acting is wonderful. I just love Ewan McGregor's character, and I love Ewan McGregor. John Leguizamo's character, Henri Toulouse Lautrec (yes, the famous painter), I found was just such an annoyingly funny character, he was definently one of my favorite characters. The Duke (Richard Roxburgh) is definently overacted, and frankly, Zidler (John Broadbent), is sooooo horribly annoying, you really would want to throw yourself off the Moulin Rouge windmill.

I love this movie. There are some funny parts, but they are mostly just in the beginning, and the best musical number isn't 'Diamonds', but rather, the dramatic 'Roxanne'. Another one of my favourite pieces is 'Nature Boy', the song sung at the very beginning. It's so sad, but very touching.

The beginning is sort of depressing, but it doesn't last long, so don't stop the DVD then. The middle sort of drags on, so be warned. The sets and costumes are beautiful, and very colourful, and the dancing is really Spectacular Spectacular (excuse the pun...), but long periods of time with the Bohemians, or at the Moulin Rouge can make you feel like you're stuck in a circus tent. But since Ewan McGregor's in it, I give it 10 stars.

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

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"

I have seen Moulin Rouge at least 25 times. I think it is the most extraordinary movie of my generation and breaks every limit set by the industry. I have heard all the traditional complaints...people didn't like the music, the editing was too swift, or it wasn't "their taste". Moulin Rouge took a risk. A risk films like A Beautiful Mind and Shakespeare in Love don't. It risked by being controversial. To make a likeable movie isn't hard, follow the Hollywood mold and stick in a few attractive actors, some bland dialogue and viola you have a film. Moulin Rouge was made knowing that not everyone would like it, but knowing everyone would at least appreciate it for its artistic ingenuity. Visually it is superb, an indulgent feast for the eyes with every breathtaking, artistic scene. Everything about it is over the top, every scene more stunning than the next, and as it continues your heart becomes more and more intertwined in the love story. The editing in the Roxanne scene rushes through your body and is the most incredible of any movie in history. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGreggor are the most passionate on-screen couple; entirely convincing as their voices meld them together into one. Never has a movie done what Moulin Rouge did. It realized that the world of film is only being represented in one small way, whereas Moulin Rouge uses a camera and screen to make something bigger and more extraordinary than has ever been made before. It pushes against the confines of convention and leaves you breathless.

Despite dazzling visuals and lavish production numbers, MOULIN ROUGE is almost all style and no substance. Frankly, I'd rather watch one of the MGM musicals from the '40s and '50s than sit through this more than once.

Kidman and McGregor are in fine physical form except that neither one has a true singer's voice.

Much of it is rather frenetic and grotesque, but no one can accuse it of lacking a colorful stylized life of its own. The best performance comes from Roxburgh as The Duke--excellent job.

It will appeal to fans of Kidman and McGregor but is certainly not the sort of musical suited to everyone's taste.