Spectacle with some under achievements

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2001)

I would really expect the most after "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet". I would really expect the rebirth of the musical movie. But one thing doesn't let me score this movie higher than 7. I would also expect a better vision of Montmartre and Paris altogether. This movie lacks universe, because the action and the characters are too restricted. What I mean is that this musical lacks that epic vein it could have, because everything turns around that group of 5 or 6 people, that group of 4 or 5 buildings (the rest of the audience and the people are man with top hats and girls with dresses, let's face it) and the result is a grand musical film, but which is presented with the scenery range of a play (just count the scenes that don't take place on studio). And this is the thing that left me craving the most, since I think Luhrmann's nuts were really too big when he grabbed music from the 80's and put them in 1900. There are too many musical highlights, but if I could choose one that really touched me more than the others, it's gotta be the powerful "Tango de Roxanne", which is as achieved as any masterpiece song we ever heard, and works also as a summit to all the movie. This is my conclusion: the movie is great, could have been even better. Love those opening credits, though. And oh yeah, how on Earth did they managed to turn John Leguizamo into a midget? He looks real, there seems to be no digital manipulation or so!