"The greatest thing, you'll ever learn...

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2008)

...is just to love, and be loved in return".
"Moulin Rouge!" is my personal favourite musical. "Singin' in the Rain" is arguably the best musical ever made, but nothing touches me more than Baz Luhrmann's masterpiece. "Moulin Rouge!" is a feast for the eyes, heart, ears and soul. It's unapologetically romantic, shamelessly corny, hysterical, sexy, and FUN.
The doomed love story of poor writer Christian (Ewan McGregor) and the beautiful courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman) is told by pop songs from the past 2 decades or so, even though the movie is set in Paris, 1899. From David Bowie and Madonna to Elton John and Nirvana, they're all there. McGregor, Kidman, Jim Broadbent and John Leguizamo are all great in their parts, and do their own singing in most of the scenes. Even though "Moulin Rouge!" wasn't an extraordinary box-office hit and got mixed reviews when it first came out in mid-2001, it earned 8 Oscar nominations months later (the Academy, trying to apologize for not nominating Luhrmann for best director, earned his wife, Catherine Martin, two deserved awards - for best costumes and art direction), eventually created a major cult and legion of fans, and officially became the movie that brought the musical genre for the 21st Century. "Chicago" would bring Bob Fosse's genius to the big screen and get 6 Oscars (including Best Picture) the following year, the delightful "Hairspray" and the uninspired "Dreamgirls" got over 100 millions at the box-office last year, and now we can officially say: musicals are popular again. Nobody should forget, though, that Baz Luhrmann's partly responsible for this fortunate comeback. 10/10.