A Modern Movie Musical

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2001)

I love movie musicals. The first one I ever saw was "Singing in the Rain" when I was in the first grade. I loved it, and every other musical made during the fifties; the age of movie musicals. Movie Musicals of the fifties took the favorite music of the time, put a cute plot behind it, got some people who could sing and dance, and shot the film. The audiences loved it. Unfortunatly, that genre of movies faded away, and the movie musical died. . . until director Baz Lurhman brought it back. Moulin Rouge, starring Ewan McGregor and Nichole Kidman, is a fantastic movie musical, with all the qualities of one. I feel that many people are looking at it from the wrong angle. It is a great musical, WONDERFUL singing (McGregor and Kidman both have fantastic voices), and the color and costumes are great. Lurhman combined his first two movies (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet) and created a fabulous display of color, music, and emotion. Lurhman's sence of color is fantastic, with the two themes of Red and White sprinkled through out the movie. There are lots of little details if one looks close enough. My one complaint is that in the Elephant Love Medley, they really didn't need the "I Will Always Love You" in there. Blech!!