Insanely beautiful modern opera

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2001)

Moulin Rouge tells the story of Christian (McGregor), an innocent young poet who defies his father and moves to late nineteenth century Paris to live a penniless bohemian life, and winds up falling in love with Satine (Kidman), the "Sparkling Diamond" of the Moulin Rouge, a nightclub. Satine, who is dying of tuberculosis but doesn't know it, dives into an ill-fated relationship with Christian, despite the only rule of the Moulin Rouge: never to fall in love. The storyline is cliche, but it is told in such a unique way that you feel as if you're being told a love story for the very first time.
Everything about this film is beautiful. The visuals are even more outlandish and artistic than those of Baz Luhrmann's last film, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, but they seem to work even better for this film. The scenes cut so often and are so mixed up that the movie could have easily been a mess, but Luhrmann somehow managed to put them all together perfectly.
The music is also wonderful. I have always had a soft spot for film musicals, and it's refreshing to know that they haven't gone completely extinct. The music is also fun because it's mostly made up of contemporary pop songs, featuring such artists as Sting and Elton John, as well as a few classics like "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and "The Sound of Music." It's amazing how well the songs fit; it almost seems as if they were written for the movie.
The acting is astounding. Nicole Kidman is wonderful, and has a surprisingly good voice (yes, it is her singing). And Ewan McGregor is indescribably amazing! He is immensely talented as an actor and has a beautiful voice. He really has a talent for making the audience feel the intense emotions that pour out of his character. Richard Roxburgh, Jim Broadbent and John Leguizamo, who play the Duke, Zidler, and Toulouse Lautrec respectively are all very entertaining, providing the comic relief. All of the actors portray their characters in a very exaggerated, melodramatic and operatic way, which confirms the fact that this film is a modern opera.
This movie swept me off my feet. Everything about it is perfect; I wouldn't change a thing. When it came to the end of the movie, it felt to me like waking up from a wonderful dream, wishing it could have lasted forever. But it is obviously the type of movie where you either love it or you hate it, because it's so unique. If you tend to go for simple movies, or movies with a diverse, constantly twisting plot (not that I don't love that genre), you probably won't see much in this movie. But if you like original, artistic, intensely dramatic films, this is one you don't want to miss.