# Moulin Rouge! (2001)

### reviewed by
Robin Clifford

    "Moulin Rouge"

There has been a hype preceding Baz Luhrmann's latest opus that has helped to infuse interest in the budding Australian film industry. Fox Studios, Sydney has bellied up to the bar in a big way to bring us the director's own vision of turn-of-the-century Parisian nightlife in "Moulin Rouge."

"Moulin Rouge" is a jam-packed musical extravaganza utilizing brilliantly conceived, complexly produced sets providing the viewer with a visual cornucopia of images. There is so much going on during the high-octane musical numbers, I could only think of Peter Greenaway's stunning sets in "Prospero's Books" by way of comparison. The numerous, imaginative dance routines are done with the director's patented hyperkinetic editing, giving the film the feel of Gilbert and Sullivan on acid.

Luhrmann's frenzied form of filmmaking was evident in his stylish and fun "Strictly Ballroom." He took it a step further (and faltered horribly) with his annoying "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" that must have had the Bard rolling in his grave. The helmer continues to follow his own vision in his best work to date. Not that "Moulin Rouge" is a great film, mind you. The are cracks in the kitsch that keeps this extravagant musical from greatness.

The story, by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, covers no new ground with poor, struggling poet, Christian (Ewan MacGregor), attracted to the big city lights of circa-1900 gay Paris where the diminutive artiste, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and his cronies befriend him. The gang soon introduces the naïve Christian to the pleasures and debauchery of the infamous Moulin Rouge, a notorious nightclub owned by a surrealistic emcee, Zidler (Jim Broadbent). There the gullible budding poet is introduced to the charms of the beautiful star of the show, Satine (Nicole Kidman), the most famous courtesan in Paris.

Zidler wants to make the change from nightclub shill to legitimate theater owner and uses Satine to lure the wealthy Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh) to invest in his venture. The selfish, arrogant aristocrat lusts after the beautiful chanteuse and agrees to pay for the business transition - if he gets Satine in the bargain. The deluded Zidler and ambitious Satine, who hungers to be a legit actress and no longer a highly paid whore, agree, but overlook one major snag. Christian falls for Satine and vice versa. Oh, yeah. Satine suffers from consumption. You take it from there, keeping in mind this is a romantic tragedy.

Luhrmann almost overwhelms you with his frenetic dance numbers that utilize a plethora of pop music songs delivered in operatic-style. The list is long and starts with "The Sound of Music" begun, first, as narrative but soon breaking into song as Christian conceives the heart of the musical play that will launch the new Moulin Rouge. This is where the flick is both at its best and its worst (though "worst" is a bit harsh).

There is a Bob Fosse influence to Luhrmann's proceedings as he combines 1900 Can Can burlesque with the modern musical poetry of "Roxanne," "Like a Virgin" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Elton John's "Your Song" is the flagship tune that epitomizes the romance between Christian and Satine. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," a string of "love" songs (that's song's with "love" in the title, Alex) - "In the Name of Love," "Silly Love Songs," "All You Need Is Love" - "Up Where We Belong" (from "An Officer and a Gentleman) and David Bowie's "Heroes" all get attention to varying degrees. The all male "Like a Virgin," led by Broadbent, is good fun.

The myriad of musical numbers and references are, as I said, overwhelming with the cleverness and single-minded wit of its auteur. For Luhrmann, more is better as he batters you with a visual bombardment that weaves the varied of songs into the fabric of the film.

There are actors up there on the screen and credit must be given to Kidman and MacGregor for terrific musical performances. Each did their own singing and both are first-rate, especially MacGregor, whose pipes could earn him a living as a crooner. Jim Broadbent gives a wild and colorful perf as Zidler, while Richard Roxburgh puts a Simon Legree spin on his sinister and dispicable Duke. The rest of the cast provides a "Cabaret" level of choreographic splendor to the striking dance numbers.

More is not always better and, sometimes, it is best to give the audience a little time to chew on things a bit. The frenetic pace of "Moulin Rouge" is a blessing and a bane, but it is certainly the vision of its maker. I give it a B.

For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com

    robin@reelingreviews.com
    laura@reelingreviews.com

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews