Unbelievable story, dancing, music, acting

Rating: 10/10 (14 June 2001)

Being a big fan of Baz Luhrmann, I was expecting a lot from Moulin Rouge. And it delivered! Everything about it was amazing. A review I read said it takes cliches and pulls real emotion out of them. And I agree. Everything felt new, even though it's been done a million times before. The acting was superb - Ewan Macgregor was so heart-wrenching. My friend and I were falling in love with him as he sang to Kidman's Satine. He was perfect.
And Nicole Kidman has the only person who could play this part. Her expressive eyes and perfect turn-of-the-century looks matched the background superbly. She evoked memories of Jean Harlow's silliness, Marilyn Monroe's sexiness, and created in Satine a gloriously contradiction - the naive prostitute. More than a hooker with a heart of gold, Kidman's Satine is childlike, even in her seduction of Christian. Her painful coming of age, brought about by the duke, was wrenching and amazing.

Baz's direction and vision are extraordinary. I fell in love with his vision the moment I saw Strictly Ballroom, and Moulin Rouge keeps it going.