Brilliant and childish

Rating: 5/10 (3 September 2001)

Musicals have always been sentimentalism of the worst kind, and sentimentality is - don't forget this - "the feeling that cannot go on more" (W. Benjamin). In comparison to the ironic adaptation of the genre that has made Woody Allen, or to the powerful "tragedization" made by Lars von Trier, Baz Luhrmann, as always tasteless and free of esthetic inhibitions, uses the musical to retell unbearable stories: Nicole Kidman is, if we think in Greta Garbo o the verbal portraits of Elonora Duse, an ice-cold and uninteresting "Dame aux camelies", Ewan McGregor's character lacks of any interest - everything lays in the eclectic rodeo of camera, costumes and music. There are some original findings, of course, like the "Roxanne!"-Tango or the Madonna imitations, even the fairy-tale-like Quartier Latin... But of course: one who is going to play with EVERYTHING, necessarily will find some golden eggs. The only thing I wonder about is why all the enthusiasts don't see and FEEL the complete childishness and immaturity, the emptiness of the whole event.