Such Beauty!

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2015)

A poet (Ewan McGregor) falls for a beautiful courtesan (Nicole Kidman) whom a jealous duke covets in this stylish musical, with music drawn from familiar 20th century sources.
Some people are really hard on Baz Luhrman, and I can understand why. It is easy to fault him for style over substance, or for taking classics like "Romeo and Juliet" and twisting them in ways we may not necessarily like. But I am not a detractor of his. Maybe "Strictly Ballroom" is not my cup of tea, but this film ("Moulin Rouge!") is pretty amazing.
The colors, the clever re-interpretation of modern music. And some solid casting. Nicole Kidman has a handful of good roles and many others that are completely forgettable. (Probably most actors can say the same thing.) Luckily, this is one of her memorable ones.