Fabulous sights and sounds at the Moulin Rouge

Rating: 7/10 (2 September 2014)

Christian and Satine fall in love and what a great love story it could be. Except this love, as the film tells us right at the very beginning, is doomed. So there could be a touch of melancholy to this whole film. But director Baz Luhrmann blows you away with the sights, the sounds, the frantic energy of the Moulin Rouge. How can you be feeling glum when you're having so much fun? This film draws you in and never lets you go. Yes, the singing and dancing are quite good fun. But there is that captivating love story too. We know there will be no happily ever afters. But we love Christian and Satine just as they love one another. You can't help but be charmed by this couple. And while giving you such a lovely couple to root for the film also gives you a dastardly villain to root against. The Duke, rich and powerful, wants Satine. But her heart belongs to Christian. The Duke does not like this. Not one little bit. Complications ensue.
Initially Satine's heart does not belong to anyone. She does not feel she is free to love anyone. She's the star attraction at the famed Paris cabaret Moulin Rouge. She's a singer, a dancer...and a courtesan, which is a fancy word for prostitute. When the owner of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler, needs someone to finance the club's new show Satine knows what she must do. She will make the Duke believe she loves him so he will finance the show. And this arrangement is not without benefit to Satine, this new show will perhaps give her a chance to be a real actress. But there's a little mix-up. She comes to believe that Christian, a penniless writer, is actually the Duke. By the time she realizes her mistake Christian is already totally smitten with her. And then the real Duke shows up and things could get really messy. But a song and dance number saves the day. In this movie, when in doubt, a song and dance number is always the answer.
So the Duke ends up agreeing to pay for the show, which Christian will be writing. Of course Christian is much more interested in Satine than he is in the show. Eventually, through song of course, he will win her heart. Then it's a matter of keeping their love hidden away from the oblivious Duke. Satine starts spending all her time with Christian. For the good of the show you see. A girl's gotta rehearse, right? Wink, wink. This makes for a rather unhappy Duke and a very nervous Zidler who needs to keep the man with the money on board. Meanwhile, lurking in the background there is that knowledge that there will be no happy ending. The whole film is in essence told in flashback, Christian in 1900 telling us of the events which happened a year earlier. The Christian of 1900 is a completely heartbroken man, the movie tells us how he got to such a state. What had become of his beloved Satine?
Right from the start director Luhrmann lets us know this film is going to be a little bit different. The film's events may unfold in 1899 but the songs Luhrmann uses are not of that period, it's a contemporary soundtrack. When Christian breaks out into some Sound of Music you think that's interesting. When you then hear a little Smells Like Teen Spirit it becomes clear that absolutely anything goes in this film. And all these songs which would seem to be so out of place work so perfectly. Some, such as Satine's renditions of Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and Material Girl, are so fitting they may as well have been written for this film. Other songs are a bit more of a stretch but Luhrmann makes it all work. And as much as Luhrmann it is the cast who make it work, most notably Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman playing Christian and Satine. Their acting is wonderful and their singing is strong and convincing. And needless to say they look the part as well. McGregor has an air of innocence and immense likability. And it is certainly easy to buy into the breathtaking Kidman as the woman who makes Paris's collective heart race. Jim Broadbent is also notably excellent as Zidler and he gets the film's funniest musical number as well.
This is a film with constant energy to it, full of life. It's a bit of a sensory overload. The costumes and color make for a visual feast. The songs are performed wonderfully, the dances are beautifully choreographed. The movie hardly ever stops to take a breath, it's constant motion. There are some moments where you wonder if the tone is quite right. The aforementioned Broadbent number is indeed funny but coming as the film takes a darker turn it seems a touch out of place. And then there are moments where maybe it gets a little too dark, where the Duke goes off the deep end and becomes too evil to take seriously. Yes, he needed to be the bad guy but not that bad. But these are small quibbles. All in all the film is a lot of fun. The story is engaging, the performances are terrific and the music kicks things up to a whole other level. You have your touching love songs and you have your wild, loud dance explosions. Every song, every snippet, serves a purpose. The film is somewhat over the top but gleefully so. It makes for great entertainment. Very fitting that the title of the show Christian is writing is Spectacular Spectacular. Moulin Rouge! is spectacular indeed.