love lifts us up, all you need is love

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2004)

I was one of those people that didn't see the movie at the cinemas, instead I waited for a friend to have a copy so I could borrow it from them.
I have only just watched Moulin Rouge! and I was told that I would either love it or hate it. At first, I didn't love it but I knew that I didn't hate it, so I watched it again the next day. I was more used to everything (including Kylie Minogue's 'Green Fairy' character, at first I was just like 'the point of her being there is ... ?, but now I understand it).
Before I wrote this review, I read a few comments on the message boards, and one person said that they special effects were so unbelievable. That is the whole point of the movie - Luhrmann says in his commentary on the DVD that he wanted a world that was not perfect, but imperfect (as evidenced by Satine and Christian dancing on the clouds around the Eiffel Tower - honestly, how could anyone ever say that that scene was meant to be normal? The dancing on the clouds showed that 'love lifts us all, love is all we need'. Even Satine realised that after just listening to Christian singing once, and she was a courtisan of all people.)
Ewan McGregor did a great job in the leading male role, I've never seen any other movie of his but I'm now a fan. I saw him in his Paris hotel at the start with his typewriter, and immediately loved him, even though I hadn't seen the rest of the movie. I loved it when he started singing, absolutely loved it. His singing won Satine over every time (the first time it stopped her heavy breathing and tiger sounds on the floor - that part I thought was hilarious - and when she tries to end things before her dinner with the Duke, when Christian suggests the 'secret song' so no matter how hard things got they would realise they loved each other.
Overall, I thought the movie was well done. Over the top, perhaps, but that was meant to be the case. Luhrmann wanted it to be elaborate, colourful and high-energy. He and his crew most certainly achieved that, but I think the real shout outs should go to Nicole (in particular, after seeing this I really think she deserved the Oscar) and Ewan, because if there wasn't any chemistry between them, it would have been Gigli's predecessor.
9.5/10 for sure.