I'm not sure if I appreciate Baz Luhrmann's style...

Rating: 7/10 (28 January 2010)

When 'Moulin Rouge!' came out, in 2001, its director, Baz Luhrmann, was already 39 years old, but had made only three other movies, 'Strictly Ballroom' and 'Romeo + Juliet'. So, assuming this is only his third film, and the third of his 'Red Curtain Trilogy', he still has a lot to grow as a director, after all, it generally takes years for a director to hit the jackpot, but of course there are exceptions like John Huston and his exceptional 'The Maltese Falcon' as his first movie.
'Moulin Rouge!' tells the story of Christian (Ewan McCregor), a young English writer that travels to 1899 Bohemian Paris. There, he meets Satine (Nicole Kidman), the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, the main nightclub of the city underworld. The problem is when he falls in love with her, but she is already committed to The Duke (Richard Roxburgh), a very rich man. Throughout the movie, most of the main characters tell the audience that this is a story about Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and above all things, love. And it is indeed. All four of them are a very important part of the story, which is very well-told, by the way, starting off a year after the main events, with Christian writing what happened. And it's all told with really good dance numbers.
The acting is nice. We have the two leads, Ewan McCregor and Nicole Kidman, playing their parts well, and singing their own songs. We have other stars like John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh. No one really stands out, but you can see the actors did their jobs exactly as they were told to.
As I mentioned, Baz Luhrmann still has a lot to grow as a director, but at least the guy has a lot of style. The landscapes of Paris were one of the best scenes I've seen in a musical, great mix-up of 3-D effects and real shots. You can see all his potential in those scenes. This movie is a perfect portrayal of Bohemian Paris, wild, senseless, and weird. The way he mixed up lots of famous songs of the 20th century to tell the story is brilliant. In here, we have songs by Madonna, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Nirvana and many others, and it works really good. The art direction is excellent, but too modern for my taste. The main problem I have with this movie is the editing, too claustrophobic. When you start to get into one scene, it jumps to another and you get dazzled.
Overral, even though I'm not sure if I appreciate Baz Luhrmann's style, it's undeniable the effort he and his crew putted into the making of this movie. The problem I have with 'Moulin Rouge!' is simply a matter of taste - too modern for me.
7/10