I am around...honest! But sooooo busy with these damn A-Levels I don't have time to write! Catch up ...
I am around...honest! But sooooo busy with these damn A-Levels I don't have time to write! Catch up with you all ASAP!
Member since:05.12.2001
Reviews:42
Members who trust:28
Moulin Rouge has topped my all-time favourite film list. It's one of the most CrEaTiVe, DaZzLiNg, ExHiLaRaTiNg and SeXy films of today - it's a whole new cinematic experience and you won't have seen anything like it before. The director, Baz Luhrman has created a whole new film genre, making Hollywood musicals trendy again while at the same time bringing it bang up to date with a cleverly modern score, a star-studded cast, and a brilliant team of choreographers, cameramen, producers and co-directors. All who make this film fresh, new and completely unforgettable.
**~~THE STORY~~**
A young English boy, Christian, arrives in Paris 1899 determined to make it as a writer – fixated with the ideals of the time: Truth, Beauty, Freedom and above all, Love. Penniless, he stays in the Montmartre part of Paris, renowned for its prostitution, poverty, crime, pimps… and The Moulin Rouge. The Moulin Rouge was a music hall, a nightclub where the aristocrats went at night to enjoy the frivolities of the can-can girls, the music and the excitement.
In his shabby lodgings, Christian tries to write but he is disturbed by an unconscious Argentinean falling through his ceiling. Bursting through his door comes the other Bohemians. They’d all been practicing a play upstairs called ‘Spectacular Spectacular’ which they were hoping they would be able to perform at the Moulin Rouge. Christian, full of inspiration for their play, becomes the new writer. And so, the Bohemians dress him up in the unconscious Argentineans best suit, ready to present him as a famous English at the Moulin Rouge.
At the Moulin Rouge, colourful dancers kick their legs and dance energetically to the pounding music in their dubious lacy outfits. The men are all dressed
in their best…enjoying the seedy dancing. Toulouse, one of the Bohemians, manages to get Christian to meet with Satine (the Moulin Rouge’s courtesan) to try and get her to do the play. Satine, however, thinks that she is meeting with the Duke, a rich and powerful man who Satine and Zidler (owner of the Moulin Rouge) are hoping will invest in the Moulin Rouge to transform it into a theatre, fulfilling Satins dream to become ‘a real actress’.
Satine, also known as ‘The Sparkling Diamond’ is the heart of the Moulin Rouge. She enters the film on a trapeze, singing ‘Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend’. She has control over men, flair, charisma, sassiness, and sexiness the lot. But her job is to sell herself. After her stunning performance, Christian waits for her in her room, ready to present his ideas to her. She, on the other hand, believes that he is the Duke who she has to seduce. Things get a bit mixed up ending in a bit of a farce! Especially when the Duke turns up…!
But before, the Duke had arrived, Satine had done what was she had told herself she’s never do – she’s fallen in love with Christian. He’d sung ‘Your Song’ to her and she fell for him. Ahhhh…!!
The Duke like the idea of the play and agrees that he will invest but only on the condition that Satine is his, and his alone. This means no nooky for Christian! But Christian and Satine find their ways, well, it’s not that hard what with him being the writer of the play and she being the star. If the Duke were to ever find out…there would be trouble though. To make certain that Satine didn’t stray, the Duke held Zidlers deeds to the Moulin Rouge.
But as with every love story, there is always tragedy. Satine is very ill. She is dying from consumption that nobody knows except Zidler and the doctor knows. When Satine plans to run away from the Moulin Rouge, Zidler has no choice but to tell her that she is dying, in a last hope to make her stay, to do the play and so that he can keep the Moulin Rouge. Satine returns to Christian, telling him that she doesn’t love him and she never has…her job is to make men believe what they want to believe. Her love was all an act.
Will the show go on? Does Satine love Christian? And will the Duke find out about their forbidden love?
**~~THE CHARACTERS~~**
Most of the characters in the Moulin Rouge are colouful, melodramatic pantomime characters. In 1899, with the ‘Children of the Revolution’ everything was being transformed, resulting in many quirky characters.
Jim Broadbent plays a large, boisterous, larger than life man – Harold Zidler. King of the Moulin Rouge he sports a twirling moustache and is your stereotypical ringmaster of the circus that is the Moulin Rouge. Although he is a business-minded man, his main aim to get his punter buying drinks and girls, he has a compassionate side too – he seems to care about how Satine feels, and comforts her when Christian goes away…even though his respect and care for her welfare is minimal.
Nicole Kidman is ‘The Sparkling Diamond’. Her natural glamour makes her ideal for this role. And her voice is amazing. She sashays around, all glitz and glamour whilst underneath the beautiful, flawless exterior, she knows that she is only worth what a man is prepared to pay for her. Her song, One Day I’ll Fly Away, tells the audience how much she wants to get away from the Moulin Rouge and experience life in a different way. Above all, she wants to be a real actress, not a cheap, seedy showgirl.
Ewan McGregor plays the casually gorgeous, aspiring writer Christian. He believes in love and is desperate to experience it – even though for him, it ends in heartbreak. He sees things in a very simple, straightforward manner. His ambition and ideals (Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love) drive him to achieve what he really wants to. Unfortunately for Christian, he also experience one of lives greatest evils – jealousy.
Richard Roxburgh is The Duke. A smarmy, stuckup, twisted man who is filthy rich but also incredibly evil. He also is consumed in jealousy, desperate for Satine to be his and his alone.
**~~WHAT MAKES THIS FILM DIFFERENT?~~**
It is not unusual for a film to be set in flashback like Moulin Rouge is. You do, however, know the ending from the start. Satine dies. The whole story is told through Christian -sometimes in a narrative style as he types it in his room opposite the Moulin Rouge. Baz Luhrman did not intend the film to be conventional – he wanted the audience to be reminded that they were watching a film and not to be drawn to far into the action. To achieve this, creative camera shots are used which rush you through the street of Paris and through the Moulin Rouge. You are constantly zooming in and out of the action, snapping back and forward between scenes and time. Some bits are in black and white even. It makes the whole experience of watching a film totally refreshing and exciting. Even some of the set isn’t naturalistic – when Satine and Christian sing together on the roof, the moon is Harold Zidler smiling down, the clouds are almost cartoon like and the colour of the night sky isn’t quite right. It’s all so artistic!
**~~THE SOUNDTRACK~~**
The soundtrack is amazing! I love it! There’s a medley in it featuring a lot of ‘classic’ love songs (obviously way before their day) which blend into one another skillfully and cleverly. Christians and Satine’s secret song, ‘Come What May’ and other songs such as ‘Your Song’ (originally by Elton John) and ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’ are a few of the best. There’s some snippets of Madonna tracks in the film – a couple of lines form ‘Material Girl’ can be heard halfway through Satine’s ‘Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend’ and Zidler does a comical version of ‘Like a Virgin’ for The Duke! The soundtrack is so good – it’s definitely worth buying on CD.
**~~OVERALL~~**
Even though Moulin Rouge is essentially a love story, it’s not your run-of-the-mill love story. There’s also a lot of comedy in it – especially from the Bohemians. You can’t get bored during this film, even if you aren’t a fan of musicals because there’s so much going on, so much to look at and enjoy. It’s so cleverly put together…it’s lively and energetic and captures the spirit of the time. (Oh yeah, when you’re watching the film, see if you can spot Kylie Minogue, she’s the Green Absinthe Fairy!)
Rating: 12 Running Time: Approx 122 mins Website: www.moulinrougemovie.com
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Production Year: 1999 - Music / Performing Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: Exempt - Starring: Donny Osmond, Joan Collins, Richard Attenborough
I watched this movie the other day and thought it was brilliant! Had my head spinning for a bit but it was still a good piece of direction by Baz Luhrmann.
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Mar 10th, 2002
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