Director Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge is a big, bold and brassy production that manages to tip its hat to the great musicals of the forties while still keeping itself relevant for a modern audience.
| Moulin Rouge possesses everything a love story should have – passion, drama, humour, jealousy, betrayal and deceit. |
Moulin Rouge is the famous Parisian nightspot where Satine (Nicole Kidman) dances every night. Against her will she falls hopelessly in love with the penniless writer Christian (Ewan McGregor), even though she has already promised herself to the wealthy and corrupt Duke of Worchester, hammed up with great delight by Richard Roxborough.
The film possesses everything a love story should have – passion, drama, humour, jealousy, betrayal and deceit. Director Luhrmann adds hints of magical realism – dancing on clouds and flying in the air – giving the audience a warm welcome into a fantasy world, without removing them completely from the ongoing saga of love.
Moulin Rouge makes reference to classic hairstyles and costume silhouettes of the great divas of the '40s and '50s such as Marlene Dietrich in Blue Angel and Rita Hayworth in Gilda.
Ewan McGregor's funky rendition of the Police hit 'Roxanne' is excellent and should help completely erase his disastrous performance in Star Wars Episode One, the Phantom Menace.
Nicole Kidman shows off a vocal range which would make Pavarotti shiver – her solo performance on three songs confirmed that she hasn't let the split with her famous ex-hubby, Tom Cruise, get in the way of her career.
Music is really what Moulin Rouge is about. But it's celebration of many of the great pop songs of the twentieth century, from Madonna and Elton John to Lennon and McCartney isn't just wallpaper, all the songs add to the development of the story and the characters.
Aussie-born director Luhrmann, who earned such high acclaim with movies such as Romeo and Juliet and Strictly Ballroom, creates precision balance between screen and sound, seamlessly marrying 20th century music with 19th Century Parisian life.
About the team
This article was produced by Connor Scullion, 14 and Paul McAteer, 15. It was published in the Belfast Telegraph.
