A Buffet for the Senses

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2005)

The exclamation point following the title in "Moulin Rouge!" is justly deserved, but barely begins to convey the level of excitement achieved in this film. Viewers seem to be evenly divided into two camps (with no middle ground) - those who dismiss it as a loud, excessive exercise in over-the-top movie-making, and the rest - like myself - who embrace it for its style, its imagination, its movement, its passion. Like a three-ring circus, it presents an overabundance of frenetic action that's impossible to absorb in one sitting. If ever a film demanded multiple viewings in order to appreciate it fully, "Moulin Rouge!" is it.
Screenwriters Craig Pearce and Buz Luhrmann - who also directed - previously teamed for "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo + Juliet," both cult favorites in their own right. Here they have selected the famed Paris nightspot, synonymous with extravagant entertainment and unbridled debauchery, to serve as the backdrop for what is, in essence, a simple love story. At the turn of the century - 19th rolling over into 20th - Christian, a penniless poet, arrives in Paris determined to establish himself as a writer. At first glance he is mesmerized by Satine, an elegant courtesan and leading attraction at the Moulin Rouge, who wants nothing more than to be a "real actress." Duc de Monroth, more familiarly known as the Duke, appears to be the wealthy means by which she can fulfill her dream, but at a price higher than she may be willing to pay. She initially scoffs at the attentions of the young writer, reminding him he can ill afford her, but she finds the pure love he offers to be more attractive than the success she could find in the arms of the lecherous nobleman. Ultimately, she will have little say in her fate, as consumption slowly saps her strength and illness invades her fragile body.
In fleshing out their tale, Pearce and Luhrmann have borrowed from a grab bag of eclectic storytelling traditions. Their script embraces the pathos of Puccini's grand operas, the cases of mistaken identity found in Shakespeare's comedies of errors, and turns to more contemporary influences such as the madcap adventures of the Marx Brothers, Lucy and Ethel's convoluted plotting, and the spectacle of Bollywood musicals. All of this is highlighted by a score of 20th Century music from talents as diverse as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Paul McCartney, Madonna, and the Pointer Sisters. Christian and Satine's duet of a medley of popular love songs on the roof of the nightclub is pure magic.
Magic is the keyword here. Everything seems to have sprung from a giddily gaudy land of make-believe where anything can happen, and often does. Satine's first entrance at the Moulin Rouge is seen through the eyes of Christian and his newly-found cohorts, all of them mind-tripping after consuming absinthe, and the spectacle is a dazzling array of sound and color and feverish movement as the camera spins through the crowd to capture every corner of the room and every person inhabiting it. At their first meeting in Satine's dressing room, she mistakenly believes Christian's wish to recite poetry is an unusual prelude to sex, and she writhes and moans in a faked display of passion until he, totally perplexed, blurts out the opening lines of Elton John's "Your Song." What follows is an exquisite rendition of the song that takes them out the window and into the night sky of Paris, where they dance among the clouds and waltz around the top of the Eiffel Tower. The camera-work here and throughout is spectacular. Much credit is due the film editors and special effects team, as well, for their often dizzying but never dull contributions that keep the film in a state of perpetual motion, and to the costume and set designer and art director for filling every scene with a visual smörgåsbord to delight the senses.
Nicole Kidman previously had proved her worth as an actress in the delicious "To Die For," but here her performance as Satine establishes her as a full-fledged STAR. Finally fully dashing out of the shadows long cast on her by husband Tom Cruise, she illuminates the screen with both her beauty and unmistakable talents for comedy, drama, and music. As remarkable as she was in the following year's "The Hours," her Academy Award-worthy performance is the one she offers here. Ewan McGregor is delightfully surprising as Christian, proving himself to be a charming romantic lead and a very capable singer. Kudos also to John Leguizamo, who endows the diminutive Henri Toulouse-Lautrec with a deep sadness hidden behind his live-for-life demeanor; Jim Broadbent, for his no-holds-barred portrayal of the heart and soul of the Moulin Rouge, the impresario for whom belief in true love ultimately overshadows a need for financial gain; and Richard Roxburgh, whose finely-etched performance of the Duke allows him to fumble his way through a myriad of emotions as his unrequited passion for Satine slowly evolves into a realization that he's been made the fool.
I have found it impossible to convince those who failed to appreciate "Moulin Rouge!" to give it another chance, but those of us who have returned to it multiple times tend to discover a previously unnoticed bit of business as we try to keep pace with the frenetically moving camera. This is that rare film that grows richer with each viewing, one that set a standard to which all future movie musicals should be held.