Moulin Rouge! (2001). Cert 12. Director -
Baz Luhrmann Writers -
Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce. Starring -
Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo & Kylie
Minogue.
Premise -
Christian arrives in Paris to start his writing career. He falls in love
with a beautiful courtesan, but she is promised to a wealthy
duke. It should
be noted that I now like two musicals (three if you count South Park as a
musical). The Wizard Of Oz and now Moulin Rouge! Before
watching the film It was apparent that those who had seen the movie fall
into two categories. You either love it or hate it, there doesn't seem to
be any middle ground. So I was fully prepared to loathe the movie since as
a rule I hate musicals and I hated Luhrmann's last film (Romeo &
Juliet was unwatchable). Within the
first twenty minutes I was hooked. The dizzying introduction to the world
of Moulin Rouge swept me up and didn't let go until the curtain
closed. At it's
heart Moulin Rouge! is an old style cliched love story. However, Luhrmann
dresses his story up in such a vividly imagined assault on the senses so
as to lift it from TV movie of the week to one of the top movies of last
year. A lot of
criticism has been levelled at the film for it's use of contemporary music
in a less than contemporary early 20th century setting. I for one loved
the use of the music in the film. Mixing Lady Marmalade and Nirvana
together is just such a crazy idea that it works. The melody on top of a
giant elephant (that's right, a giant elephant) is simply stunning. It's a
crime that Ewan and Nicole are ineligible for the best song Oscar because
of a technicality. Speaking
of Ewan and Nicole, both are excellent here. Ever since 'Shallow Grave' I
knew Ewan was destined for big things, with this movie he continues to
prove me right. Nicole is just luscious, she confounds all my expectations
and is stunning throughout. They are both supported admirably by BAFTA
winner Jim Broadbent and former repellent John Leguizamo. The real
star of the film however is the production design. The world that Luhrmann
has created is gorgeous, from the rooftops of decadent paris to the
gaudily coloured interior of the Moulin Rouge itself all are impeccably
detailed. It would take several viewings of the movie to be able to take
in all the little background details. If
anything brings down Moulin Rouge! it's the script. As I said earlier, at
the end of the day the film is basically an old fashioned love story and a
particularly cliched one at that. If a bit more effort had been put into a
more original script then we could have been looking at a
5.
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7/10 for Moulin Rouge. Poster Quote - Sing when you're winning. |