Spectacle, Passion, Moulin Rouge

When I say "Moulin Rouge" isn't for everyone, I'm not excluding very many people. "Moulin Rouge" would be enjoyed by the following groups:

1) Those who enjoy old movie musicals.

2) Those who enjoy modern music videos.

3) Anyone who's been head-over-heels in love.

These three groups will find something to like in "Moulin Rouge," and if you happen to be lucky enough to fall into all three categories, like I do, you may find something to love in it.

With all of the ads and previews in magazines, newspapers, television, and theatres, you'd have to be blind and deaf to not have seen or heard something about "Moulin Rouge" in the last few months.

Baz Luhrman, who made a name for himself directing "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo + Juliet", has given us this flick, that he's spent the last four years working on, and it's been worth the wait.

I enjoyed "Romeo + Juliet" mostly because the girl I saw it with had already seen it, and knowing my disdain of all things MTV-ish, said "Quinn, just ignore the first 15 minutes, and you'll really like it...." And I did. The same rule applies to "Moulin Rouge." If you allow yourself to be immersed in the world BEFORE you start paying attention, you'll really enjoy this movie. Don't try to keep track of all of the myriad lights, sounds, details, and costumes, because you can't catalogue them all with your feeble little mind. Just let it wash over you.

By the time both of the main characters have been introduced in the Parisian nightclub Moulin Rouge, you'll be hooked. From above the chaos of the dance floor and the Can Can Dancers, Nicole Kidman's Satine descends like a singular diamond on a chain, and hangs over the heads of all: the desperate, the wealthy, the violent, the addicts.

She brings a sort of peace and order to the chaos of the club, and at the same time instantly ignites the passion of two rivals, Ewan McGregor's character Christian, and the Duke, played by Richard Roxburgh. She needs both of them, and the tension between these three characters drives the plot of the film.

What has been said most about this movie is that it's visually stunning, and it is that. The Luhrman-visualized Paris of 1900 is a visual feast, and everything from the absinthe-induced hallucinations of the first act to the Indian belly dancers of the final act are blindingly beautiful with their gems, baubles, sparkles, and brilliant colors. It's like having your eyes opened for the first time.

Even more than the visual spectacle, though, what impressed me were the performances of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Their singing was not only "more than adequate," it was very very good. For not being singers by profession, it actually deepened the movie for me...it was more like ordinary people falling in love and expressing that love by singing at the top of their lungs.

The songs themselves are mostly pop songs reinterpreted, and everything is represented from Nirvana to KISS to U2 to The Police to Madonna to The Sound of Music. Plus a LOT more. They're taken and adapted and twisted and (in some cases) made better than they were before and given new light by their use in "Moulin Rouge," and yes, I will be buying the soundtrack.

The passion of the two leads lifts the music up above their technical skill, and although I've always LIKED Ewan and Nicole, there's never been anything about either one of them that I've been in love with. Now I can say I love both of them in this movie.

"Moulin Rouge" isn't exactly what I expected, though it does have some very traditional elements. It has elements of comedy, tragedy, romance, and fate all combining to form a remarkable story, told by someone who was very obviously in love with the idea and executed it very well.

I recommend this to anyone who loves musicals, music, or love.