Well it was good enough for an Oscar wasn't it?

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2011)

OK so here we go, another review of a film I also worked on. I was the head Art Dept Electrician on this film, meaning just about every light globe you see in every frame (and there are certainly a lot, possibly more than any other film in history) was put there either by myself or one of the four others on my team. But enough of that.
In production, Moulin was a film where few crew knew what the film was about until we sat and watched it at the preview 12 months later. Both then and now, it blows my mind to watch such an enjoyable, indulgent and extravagant production - one of the few I can think of where the viewer really gets to see so much of what happened in front of the camera.
For an art department crew member, watching a film you've worked on is so often like watching life through a keyhole. You know there was so much there but so little of it can ever be seen in the final cut. Not with "Moulin Rouge"! Watching Every frame, every word, every song is like soaking yourself in a bath of creativity where there were no rules or if there was, they were often invisible.
The Oscar (won for Best Production design) is rightly claimed. Whilst the performances, music and cinematography are all excellent, it's the unique designs that really jump out of the screen throughout the entire film. The success of "Moulin" as an artistic masterpiece is testament to the Australian way of film making, where art comes by way of cooperation, communication and a common drive to deliver the cast and director the best environment possible in which to present the story and performance. It's a long way from the "Frustrated Incorporated" way of working so common to American productions where time constraints often lead to sub standard results.
So why an 8 and not a 10? "Moulin Rouge" in the end fell victim to Fox Studios Australia, displacing the production in May 2000 in favour of George Lucas' Star Wars prequel. As a result of this two major key sets were demolished well before time and well before it was possible to create the necessary special effect shots needed to bring the film to reality.
This resulted in the construction of a number of additional scale models (at another studio) which were inevitably used for these mo-con shots - and resulted in the famed "longest mo con shots in film for this week".
To most viewers, Moulin seems fine. But to me, and despite enormous effort to prevent it, the continuous multitude of continuity and lighting errors that abound in "Moulin" (where scenes cut back and forth from the real life to the model sets) is an ever present annoyance, preventing me from ever fully entering the director's intended world as it was planned to be. For this reason, Moulin will never be what it could have been - and stands as a warning to anyone who plans to outstay their welcome at a Fox studio.
Still, it was good enough for an Oscar, and I guess (being in the department that earned it that Oscar) I should be (and am) satisfied. I do sometimes wonder what it might have looked like though had the producers gone ahead with their initial plans to build a full size outdoor back lot, thus avoiding the troubles at Fox and obviating the need for all that expensive mucking about with scale models afterwards.
Moulin was a wild ride (both on and off screen) and I'll never forget it.
And I guarantee, neither will you.
Enjoy.