Moulin Rouge is What Artistic Cinematography is All About

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2006)

"Spectacular, Spectacular", the bohemians in Moulin Rouge couldn't have said it better. It is a film that is equally a classic, a work of art, and a musical. It is also brilliantly made in all its aspects, it is strongly emotional, a celebration of beauty, its soundtrack is nothing less than genius, the performances are truly memorable, and it is visually outstanding. This film is an extraordinary production that can only get better every time one sees it.
In Moulin' Rouge the theme and sub-themes of the story are made clear by the characters themselves, "Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Love", of course with love as the main theme. Christian, played by Ewan McGregor, is obsessed with love even though he has never fallen in love himself, the main plot revolves around his ideals about love. Throughout the movie Satine and Christian fight for love only to prove that it conquers all, as they beautifully play it in the song "Come What May". This is their secret song, and no matter what obstacles their love will be stronger than adversity. The whole film revolves around these ideals of the bohemian revolution, or better said: "the children of the revolution". So many films have been made in honor of love, yet this one stands out because it pays tribute to love with art, music, and consequently passion. It is impossible not to fall in love watching this film even if it is for the thousandth time.
The story line of the movie gives allusion to several classics, such as "La Bohème", "La Traviata", and "Orpheus in the Underworld" (IMDB Trivia), yet it stands out for its originality. Another movie which it alludes to is, a stronger classic than the latter, is "Romeo and Juliette". Even if the audience is as cynical as Satine, Christian and the rest of the bohemians will draw them into romantic bliss.
Even though the movie is a Tragedy it is made into greatness by the very basic ideals of the Greek Tragedy: it had to be made with such perfection and beauty that the spectator would walk away with a duality of emotion, both sadness for the heartbreaking outcome of the story and joy for the admiration of what they have just witnessed. What is more, whenever a movie starts with the ending the viewer can foresee that the film will be so great that is doesn't need a shocking ending, the movie's story line is enough.
The acting in the movie was also worthy of awe, all five main actors, Ewan McGregor as Christian, Nicole Kidman as Satine, John Leguizamos as Toulouse, Jim Broadbent as Zidler, and Richard Roxburgh as The Duke made an incredible performance, and by performance I mean acting and singing. A couple of these actors had a previous positive reputation for their acting, however their singing will sure cause a shocking impression on the audience. The most memorable performances were those of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, they were so intensely in character that it is very hard to watch the movie objectively without getting absorbed into the sentiment of the film.
Nevertheless, even though the singing of the actors was incredible it would have been nothing without the elaborate composition of the songs. All of the songs were covers for the most part yet it was seldom obvious. Most of the songs were individually composed of lyrics of many singers and bands and they were redone to fit the movie. These songs are so perfect for every situation that it would have been easier to compose new lyrics than to gather lines from other composers. Purchasing the soundtrack is almost as worthy of getting the movie itself.
In addition, the costumes and the sets were so elaborate that they were as important to the film's success as the actors' performance, the music, and the plot. The movie takes place in Paris; yet it is a fantasy landscape of Paris that almost purposefully looks like a miniature replica, this setting adds to the fantastic world in which the film takes place. All of the inside settings are striking for their elaborateness and artistic quality, they add to the movie's creative, elegant, sexy, and dreamlike spirit.
Moulin Rouge can also be described as very bizarre and this may be the reason why it does not appeal to all audiences. One of the main elements that make it so is the way the camera is used. It is not at all used in a conventional way; on the contrary, it goes to extremes so that it makes it unconventional. It is a combination of rapid tracking shots, spinning, coordination with the song (specifically in the song Spectacular Spectacular), and more. Even though the usage of the camera makes the movie very bizarre it is almost essential for its artistic structure.
Many aspects such as the acting, singing, setting, costumes, use of color, camera movement, and theme, come together to make this movie into a brilliant work of art. However, as great as it is it does not appeal to everyone; because it is so unconventional it may not arise all of the emotions that it should, it may only cause confusion. Despite its unpopularity in certain groups, it is venerated by others. Moulin Rouge was the first acclaimed musical in this time and was the first of many more to come. It is also one of those movies that will be timeless and will only become better with time. Moulin Rouge can be concisely expressed as having heart.