Wow!

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2001)

I'd like to be able to simply say "wow" and let you see the movie for yourself:
Wow.
However there are a lot of really ignorant reviews coming out about this wonderful movie so I will try to persuade you, dear visitor, why you should believe me and not Kenneth Turan of the LA Times, or whoever you are unfortunate enough to be saddled with in your local paper.
Moulin Rouge is a post-modern, filmic "La Boheme"; that is to say, it is an opera. Unlike the opera you can see at your local Opera House, though, this movie is thoroughly contemporary, not only in its selection of music, but also in its organizing aesthetic, which is related to, but not derivative of, MTV music videos.
As opera, in its heyday, incorporated elements of all the other arts (literature, music, theater, painting), Moulin Rouge, as a contemporary opera, incorporates the arts of our day: all of the above, plus movies, rock and roll, and booty-shaking nightclub dancing. In both the classic opera, and in Baz Luhrmann's movie, there is that sense of being confronted with a work that is pulling out all the stops, that is "letting it rip". It is an intimidating type of art if you are looking for a mildly pleasant diversion, but a richly rewarding one if you're willing to go along for the ride.
A lot of reviews are criticizing the editing as being overly aggressive, too fast, jumpy, discombobulating.
I think these reviewers, having correctly observed such irritating habits in director Luhrmann's last movie, "Romeo + Juliet", were, shall we say, overly sensitive to that issue before the movie even started, and have failed to appreciate the picture editing for what it is: fast, yes, but smooth, propulsive, and functional. The editors have created a Dadaist marvel that manages at the same time keeps you in touch with the story, the characters emotions, and the physical geography of each scene. If there is ever a moment where physical space becomes abstract, it is by design, as the movie slides back and forth between traditional narrative space, and a presentational, music-theater aesthetic.
Don't be misled: this is not the kind of quote-unquote "MTV editing" that sours rotten action pics like "ConAir" and other assorted Hollywood crap. This is a visual tour de force that will take you on a nearly psychadelic voyage through an imaginary Paris.
The musical choices are extremely bold. This is a film that could have, ought to have, in fact, turned out as embarrassing and campy as the Peter Frampton/Bee Gee's disaster "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It is a measure of the director's self-confidence that he dances so far out on a limb that the leaves tickle the ground, inviting disaster, but never falls from his perch.
Nicole Kidman gives, I think, her best performance yet. Ewan MacGregor is the complete leading man. It's great to watch them together on screen. They are both real actors in an era when most are not.

I spent probably too much time worrying that the movie, like most, was going to fall apart before they managed to find their way to the end of the story. You needn't worry, when you watch it: this movie works, like a charm. The crowd I saw it with tonight (opening weekend, LA) burst into applause at one point midway through the second act. That NEVER happens in LA. It was a deeply satisfied crowd that left the theater. Don't believe the jaded reviewers who have lost to much of their imagination to take Luhrmann's wild ride: go see it!