Review of Moulin Rouge! (2001) by Blake P — 15 Mar 2013

"Moulin Rouge" is the only movie where, within the first twenty minutes, I hated it. It starts off with giggly bright colors, loud laughter and music, with dialogue and characters that feel artificial. Don't judge it so quickly as I almost did, folks! "Moulin Rouge" is everything I just described it as. It feels like a migraine at first, yet slowly and surely it melts into our hearts and its utter excess makes it a masterpiece within minutes. Baz Luhrmann is a director unlike any other, and may as well already be considered one of the best, if not, one of the most innovative and artistic.

Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a young writer that leaves the posh lifestyle of home and journeys to the temptations of the bohemian lifestyle in 1890s France, the center of it all being the dance hall/brothel/theatre Moulin Rouge. He's absorbed into the world of lust, drugs, and the joys of music, all the while falling for beautiful torch singer and courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman). But there are two problems: one is that the evil Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh) believes Satine is the only one for him, and will kill to get her if he has to; the other reason being is that Satine is slowly dying of tuberculosis. While Christian may not get the happily ever after tale of romance he hopes for, he gets the experience of a lifetime.

"Moulin Rouge" is a masterpiece is so many ways that it's difficult to even begin to praise it. Musicals were deader than fossils in 2001, and to deliver something as risky as this film is quite the feat-- and, I might at, it's one of the best risks the movie industry has ever taken. I've never seen a musical as original as this, or frankly as good. You can't begin to even compare it to classics like "Singin' in the Rain" or "Chicago", because it's a work of art just as much as it is unique.

The style is as in your face as you'd expect, yet it never overcomes substance, because both are so creative. The sets, all designed with sheer sumptuousness and color, with costumes that remind one of Fellini, are as easy on the eyes as they are simply intriguing. The fact alone that the moon itself has a face and can speak, says it all. And the story, combining old-fashioned melodrama and giddy humor, works well, if you can handle it.

But one of the most memorable things about the film is it's soundtrack. This isn't one of those cases where the characters break out in a song we've never heard before. It may take place around the turn of the century, but in this world, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a popular song for seductive singers to belt, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a hit among crowds who love to sing together. It shouldn't work but it does. Because Luhrmann makes a world that's highly fictional and nearly pulpy, why not? It's a good idea, considering its atmosphere.

"Moulin Rouge" is one of the best films of the decade, because nothing I've seen has ever been this visionary has ever been so shamelessly good. Kidman and McGregor are at their best (and wildest); Luhrmann has never been better.