The Magic of Moulin Rouge!
If you told me that a slightly chaotic musical claiming that “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return” would one day become my favourite film and the object of what one might call an unhealthy obsession, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. However, Baz Luhrmann’s beautiful and wildly ambitious Moulin Rouge! has owned my heart since the first time I watched it. The colourful, dazzling musical is also the final instalment in the director’s ‘Red Curtain Trilogy’ (which includes Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet). Moulin Rouge! follows grieving writer, Christian, played by Ewan McGregor, who recounts and writes the story of how he fell in love with the courtesan and star of the Moulin Rouge, Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. Despite challenges faced during its creation, including the passing of Luhrmann’s father (whom the film is dedicated to) and multiple injuries sustained by Kidman during filming, Moulin Rouge! was released in theatres in late spring of 2001 and has since won the hearts of many for a number reasons, including the charming and beautiful performances (and heavenly singing voices) of McGregor and Kidman, the astonishing visuals, and Luhrmann’s bold vision which one can’t help but admire. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it and am guilty of talking about it ad nauseum (apologies to friends and family), but as clichéd as this may sound, Moulin Rouge! made me realize just how magical movies can be.
The film takes place at the turn of the century, during the height of the Bohemian movement in France. Bohemian characters like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (played by John Leguizamo) believe in ideals of truth, beauty, freedom, and above all, love - a contrast against darker elements, like the greed and prostitution surrounding the Moulin Rouge that the viewer is slowly made aware of. Christian, a penniless writer, moves to Montmartre to join this revolution, much to the disappointment of his conservative father. It is a film where one can’t help but root for the characters representing reckless youth, hopeless romantics, and aspiring artists. Furthermore, Moulin Rouge! feels like an homage to everything a musical can be. The cabaret and vaudevillian culture of the 1900s, old Hollywood classics, tragic operas, and even Bollywood were all sources of inspiration for Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce. These elements come together to create a spectacle on a whole new level. The breathtaking production design and gorgeous costumes completely transport the viewer into this magical yet outrageous world, earning designer Catherine Martin (who along with being a collaborator is also married to Luhrmann) and the film two Oscars out of the eight it was nominated for.
Moulin Rouge! is viewed by many as a postmodernist film. Postmodern filmmaking typically attempts to subvert convention using a variety of techniques, many of which are employed in Moulin Rouge!. For example the show-within-the-film ‘Spectacular Spectacular’ juxtaposes the actual events of the film, playing with parodical and metanarrative styled elements, while fragmented narrative, erratic camera work and editing all work together to create a heightened sense of surrealism. Notably, its main postmodernist feature is the use of modern music (primarily popular contemporary pop and rock songs) which one doesn’t expect to find in a film set in 1899 Paris. Lyrics originally associated with Madonna and Nirvana now belong to the performers of the Moulin Rouge and the “hills are alive with the sound of music” becomes a line invented by Christian. Like a typical musical, music functions as narrative in Moulin Rouge!, however Moulin Rouge! almost entirely borrows pre-existing music to tell its story, the only original song being Christian and Satine’s secret song ‘Come What May’. The context of each song enhances the presentation of characters and storyline, and though lyrics remain unchanged, the songs feel reinvented in a way that makes it seem as though they are original and appropriate for the setting. In fact, it took Luhrmann approximately two years to secure the rights to all the music that would be used in the film.
The iconic scene where Christian performs ‘Your Song’ as a presentation of his poetry to Satine, highlights the role of music in the film. From the moment Christian sings the first line “my gift is my song”, Satine is immediately captivated and stops what she’s doing to listen. Initially, Christian tries reciting the lyrics as spoken word to her, but she doesn’t seem to notice. “My gift is my song” quite literally points out the fact that music symbolizes Christian’s gift with words, in turn emphasizing his role as the writer in this story. This is also later observed when Satine repeats Christian’s words to the Duke, who is also immediately enamoured. All my love and respect to Sir Elton John, but Ewan McGregor’s swoon-worthy rendition of ‘Your Song’ is obviously the superior version. Seriously, go watch that scene and then try to convince me that you did not just fall in love.
Amid the show stopping spectacle, it’s the central love story that drives this film. Many movies feature iconic and tragic love stories, just think Titanic’s Jack and Rose or even Luhrmann’s own Romeo + Juliet, but it’s Moulin Rouge!’s Christian and Satine that wins cinema’s most hopelessly in love but tragically doomed couple for me. While Christian and Satine are probably the reason I have wildly unrealistic expectations (because if I don’t fall in love ‘Elephant Love Medley’ style then what’s the point), and though their story draws from Orphean tragedy and plays out in a grand, melodramatic operatic fashion (Puccini’s La Bohème was a main source of inspiration for Luhrmann), it feels more genuine than the typical tragic romance. Christian, a new and aspiring writer, who's never been in love prior to meeting Satine, is perhaps naive to romanticize and obsess over the idea of it. Satine, on the other hand is a courtesan and knows the challenges of making one’s way in the world. With dreams of one day becoming “a real actress”, Satine is tasked with charming and eventually sleeping with a possessive but wealthy Duke in the hopes that he will invest in her and the Moulin Rouge. According to her, to Christian’s disbelief, she can’t fall in love for real. However, Christian and Satine do fall in love. As that love is constantly threatened, it can be seen that both learn different lessons from it. Christian realizes that love isn’t always easy, while Satine realizes that love is something she is deserving of. Now, I’ve never been in love and I’m no expert on the matter, but I do believe that the shift in Christian and Satine’s previously held beliefs after falling in love with each other is something many do experience and will relate to, giving a realistic touch to a film that is otherwise known for its over the top style.
Twenty years later it’s no surprise that Moulin Rouge! is considered to be one of the most iconic and memorable films of the 21st century, if not of all time. Without it, it’s hard to imagine that many of the jukebox musical projects that came after would exist (Glee fans say thank you to Baz Luhrmann and Co.). Recently its lasting legacy can be seen in a Broadway stage adaptation and as a Canadian, I’m legally required to mention that it also inspired ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s 2018 olympic gold medal winning routine. Like me, there are many who adore Moulin Rouge! for what it is, but I also know there are others who find it to be equivalent to an absinthe fuelled headache. However, no matter where one stands, there seems to be a general consensus and appreciation for the fact that there isn’t any film quite like it. Now excuse me as I go rewatch it for the billionth time.
Sources
Andrew Geoff. “Baz Luhrmann (I).” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Sept. 2001, www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/07/1.
Ann van der Merwe. “Music, the Musical, and Postmodernism in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.” Music and the Moving Image, vol. 3, no. 3, 2010, pp. 31–38. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/musimoviimag.3.3.0031.