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Moulin Rouge

Dir. Baz Luhrman; 126 minutes; rated PG-13 for sexual content
Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo

The green fairy led the way. There I was, sitting in the discount theatre hoping that my 5 bucks hadn’t been wasted on a big budget attempt at art, when suddenly an unconscious Argentinean fell through the roof and the green fairy led the plot away from the rational world.

What can I say? I loved Moulin Rouge. I loved it enough to drag other friends along with me the next day when I went back for a second helping of visual absinthe. As I sat next to them I could actually feel them relaxing as they came to realize that no, this was not their parent’s art film. More like MTV with brains, great costumes, and a little green fairy.

The movie opens when the young writer Christian, played by Ewan McGregor at his sexy best, moves to Paris to experience the bohemian summer of love. He falls in with a group of half crazed bohemian artists who are producing a musical called “Spectacular, Spectacular” and is soon singing about love and trying his first glass of absinthe. (A warning to people who want to try absinthe...it isn’t just the color that’s a bit funky. Absinthe at it’s best has the taste and consistency of bitter NyQuil, and there are better ways to get a buzz in my opinion!). 

Toulouse Lautrec, played by John Leguizamo, never gets far from his absinthe, but Christian soon finds himself more interested in Satine, the dancer from the Moulin Rouge who will play the lead role in “Spectacular, Spectacular.” Nicole Kidman, who looks absolutely amazing in scene after scene, is the star of the film while her character, Satine, is the star of the Moulin Rouge burlesque show. Satine falls for Christian, (it’s Ewan McGregor, so what’s not to like?) and that could be the happy ending right there, but of course, why should happy endings come easily?

Enter the evil Duke, the fatal chest cold, the most disturbing cover of Madonna’s Like A Virgin ever performed, a giant gilded elephant, a tango set to Roxanne, and a set that takes on a life of its own. Baz Luhrman, the director of Moulin Rouge, has a history of making big, flashy films. His Strictly Ballroom and Romeo+Juliet were both risky movies that combined over-the-top costumes and classic themes with modern music and fast camera cuts. Luhrman started in opera, and Moulin Rouge drips with the opulence, extravagance and musicality one would expect from a night at the opera.

I’ll admit, Moulin Rouge isn’t for everyone. The plot is complex, but at it’s heart, this is a film about the oldest love triangle on the books: old rich man - beautiful but poor girl - sweet but poor boy. The film doesn’t really have a happy ending, and the (mostly) implied sexuality of the film might be a bit much for some. I found the rapid camera cuts, loud music, garish colors and lighting to be an effective means of making the movie more visceral (but some might find them simply to fast to follow, I suppose it depends on how many hours you’ve ‘wasted’ watching music videos!). I didn’t watch this film with my head, instead, I felt the characters’ emotions and confusion in my gut. The loud sets and rapid cuts would be nothing without the actors themselves, who sell the film in every scene. Kidman is simply stunning as Satine and McGregor pulls off the “puppy dog eyed” young poet role with aplomb. Leguizamo deserves special note for the fact that he played the entire film bent over...Toulouse suffered from a bone disorder that prevented him from growing very tall, hence the normal sized Leguizamo did all his scenes from his knees!

Overall, I highly recommend Moulin Rouge to fans of Opera and MTV, to those who love period costumes and modern music, to those who think Kidman is gorgeous and McGregor is hot, and to anyone who is looking for a two hour joy ride with a little green fairy.

 

Drew Taylor grrl-e-grrl.com resident film freek