The Moulin Rouge

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2016)

I decided to watch the movie The Moulin Rouge. I was first introduced to this movie by my wife and I have loved it ever since. It is a compelling comedic love story based in a historical setting with real historic references to war, art, diseases and artistic revolution upon a fictional story line along with fictional character. Through this critique we will be looking at some essentials of the plot, theme and characters as well as analysis, interpretations, evaluations and engagements.
So starting with the plot, characters. The plot surrounds a penniless bohemian revolutionary writer and his love interest, a courtesan in a night club known as the Moulin Rouge who is aspiring to be an actress. The villain in this story is portrayed as a misogynist duke who falls in love with the courtesan and wants her for himself. The duke plays an essential role in the plot because he is not only the villain, but the main cause of the plot. The duke shows his essential characteristics in two ways. The first, he is the wedge between the protagonist and his love interest. The second goes into this because the wedge is because the duke is the only one who has offered to fund turning the Moulin Rouge from a night club to a theatre to that the courtesan can have her dream. The penniless writer is accidentally thrown into it under the impression that he would become the Moulin Rouges head writer for the bohemian revolution. However, because he falls in love with her, and very unfortunate miscommunications, the courtesan falls for the writer to the point where she cannot bring herself to betray the writer by satisfying the duke for his money.
The theme is very easy to perceive. The theme is set in France in the year 1900. At this time, France was going through a revolution of arts and expression which was known as the Bohemian Revolution. The theme is mixed with some modern principles and songs but for the most part, keeps true to the history of the time period with dance, dress, art and even historical facts and political views at the time. The protagonist shows the purpose of this theme early in the movie as he remembers the conflict he had with his father concerning the difference in socially accepted principles. The main theme of this is of an early 1900s night club but does transform, adding to the theme of the Bohemian Revolution itself, into a more artistic and higher culture form of entertainment.
Analyzing this film, there are many themes and characterizations that carry throughout the film. Starting with the theme that has been developed. The protagonist going from a household deemed by society as well developed and mannered, to a community that sees art and behavior more liberally, it shows the increasing liberal nature of humanity and self-expression. Characterizations are more along the lines of usual night clubs where most of the men and women involved in this story are more sex driven than those who are not, or in other words, the protagonist and his group are pretty much the only characters who are not driven by sexual desires in this movie.
The interpretation the Moulin Rouge as a movie and a concept is trying to provide is that love is greater than anything anyone can offer. With the duke and the courtesan, as stated in the plot, the courtesan cannot sacrifice love just to win over money from a possessive duke.
This movie, looking at it, is probably not within the confines of higher art, and would most likely be put in the wonderful, ever expanding box of popular culture. The movie in itself has enough comedy and sexual innuendos that it could possibly be considered boring or offensive to those of higher art or of previous generations. I consider this entertaining because of the comedy and music, such things are relatable to our current pop culture and other pieces of culture that us as an audience find entertaining, livable, or just plain hilarious. This is due to the overbearing underwhelming even childish special effects (e.g. mustached moon singing in background) and overdone makeup to help illustrate the colors and theme of the movie.
Looking at reviews of this movie from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, it is a general 7-7.5 out of 10. However, most of the users of IMDb found it to be the best movie they have seen in a long time. As well according to IMDb, this film was the first musical nominated for best picture in 10 years, the last being Beauty and the Beast. Most of the reviews I have seen have matched my review and personal opinions of the movie based on the plot, characters, themes, and overall likeableness of the film. I would definitely give it a higher rating than the average given, probably at least an 8-8.5 but that is just me.
Overall this is an exceptional film if you are not looking for a higher culture performance or form of entertainment that can come from this picture. The plot and characters are very easy to believe and the theme is very appropriate along with the music. Everything was put together very nicely and very professionally and I have to say, it was a great movie, would love to watch it again or recommend it to others.