Moulin Rouge Theme

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2015)

Yes. Yes it is 2015 and I am reviewing Moulin Rouge, which I am aware came out in 2001. I have seen this movie well over 100 times and can sing, not well, every song from the movie. Now that is out of the way I will give an actual review of this movie. The theme of this review is "theme." Spoiler alert, it's not love. Or is it?
It's the very early 1900's and Christian (Ewan McGregor), a young writer, moves to Paris. He meets Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) and agrees to help him and other actors in this Bohemian movement to finish and present their show "Spectacular Spectacular" to Harold Zigler (Jim Broadbent), the owner of the infamous Moulin Rouge. Well to make ones dreams come true, a few white lies are invented and next thing you know Christian is not some poor writer but instead posing as the Duke of Monroth (which is later played by Richard Roxburgh) to convince the star courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman) to listen to their work who they hope will later take it to Harold.
Long story shortÂ… Satine discovers Christian isn't who he says he is, they fall in love despite this fact. Unfortunately she is a prized "whore" and needs to actually be with the Duke to save the failing Moulin Rouge but is starting to feel guilty because she is in love. The Duke finds out about Christian and Satine and tries to rape her. Satine decides to give up her life at the Moulin Rouge for a life with a penniless writer but soon finds out she is dying and ends it with Christian to "save him" but instead it backfires. She dies. But before passing, they reconcile. Christian is heartbroken.
Let's talk about theme. The fact that I have been watching this film for almost fifteen years I have discussed this film with many people during that time. A common topic is theme. Most of the time the answer is love. Is love actually a theme? No. Love plays a role in many themes especially in this film; moral implications, the truth of human nature, the struggle for human dignity, complexity of human relationships and coming of age. Lets pick one. I will put it out there the theme of Moulin Rouge is the coming of age/loss of innocence/growing awareness.
Let's examine each one. Â• Coming of Age. Christian left home for Paris to be a famous writer. He is new to a big city and we have to watch him develop into a man. Â• Loss of Innocence. This applies both to Christian and Satine. Christian for obvious reasons (falling in love with a courtesan) and Satine because being a "whore" was the only life she has ever known. Â• Growing Awareness. Christian and Satine realize life is not always what it presents itself to be. These two realized if in opposite ways. Christian ended up realizing it is sometimes worse than you want it to be and Satine realizing it can be better than you think it is. Of course that's before she dies.
This film is shot well. The editing creates the needed chaos for emotion. The visual effects are appropriate to each scene. Costume and makeup design are on point. And don't even get me started on how amazing they did as singersÂ…
There is emotion created from this film. You may not like it, you may think it's cheesy but I respect that this film was shot different than anything else I have ever seen. I liked the organized chaos and I enjoyed watching Christian and Satine come of age, lose their innocence and grow more aware of who they are as individuals and as lovers.