Toulouse-Lautrect must be gagging in his grave

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2002)

Because I am gagging at his depiction in this film.
I had been waiting for Moulin Rouge for more then a year. Every
element of it was making me drool at the mouth. Ewan Mcgreggor,
Baz and Kidman. I love Baz's Romeo and Juliette and Strictly
Ballroom. Well crafted with a dream like qualities.
I am an art history and film student, so I saw the mixing the time
period, modern music and these period characters seemed like
the coolest idea I had ever heard. I was dead wrong. THE ONLY
WORDS THAT CAN DESCRIBE THIS MOVIE IS. SILLY, SILLY, SILLY! The marketing for this movie made it look like a love story
with drama. It should have been, romantic comedy with silly dance
and song numbers.
The choice of music was great but I felt like they were treated with
the intent to ridicule and they were always over the top. Example.
`The Like a virgin' sequence. The funny way in which the butlers
danced made the scene silly made me want to wretch (not to
mention the camera shots). I always think that this scene could
have been much better if it would have been done with a serious
tone. Imagine the emotional impact of describing Satine's
emotions being described with `Like a Virgin' in a serious
manner. Try it in your mind. You will be surprised on how it could
have been more effective. Tears and pain rather then a silly
routine. The only scene I enjoyed was the `Roxanne' sequence
where the dance was actually well choreographed and well inter
cut. Kudos for this scene. But only this scene.
But the one thing that made me angry was the way Toulouse-Lautrect was portrayed by the script. A silly little man I
do not think so. He pratically invented Showtime posters and
cabaret art. He was a genius. Sure he took one too many bottles of
absinthe but all in all he was supposed to be a genius.

All in all I have to say it is the worst movie I have scene in a long
while. Okay Battlefield earth was worse!!!! I know that MOULIN
ROUGE is the most divided movie amongst critics of the year. I am
sorry, I fall on the hate.
1/10