The potency of cheap music

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2002)

Spoilers. As usual. Was it George Orwell who talked about the potency of cheap music? Or Dennis Potter? No, he was the one who described the songs with which he bolstered his work as "vomit". Nice man. Whoever it was, cheap music has never been more potent than in "Moulin Rouge", a swirling, dizzying, annoying, wonderful mess of a movie, in which songs that any right-thinking individual would happily run a million miles to avoid are turned into spine-tingling little wonders of emotion and power. How is this done? Simply by getting two of the 21st Century's most attractive stars - McGregor and Kidman - to sing them. I never would have believed it possible for me to enjoy a version of Elton John's "Your Song" so much. In fact, it's almost embarrassing how enjoyable this film is. Sure, there are mistakes - the "Like a Virgin" debacle, the desperately unfunny antics of Ewan's sidekicks, who have very little to do except be irritating - but the end result is truly a work of pop culture greatness. Kidman and McGregor are largely responsible for why this movie works so well. They glow, they shine, they sparkle, they radiate, they have an amazing on-screen chemistry, they sing (They SING!), they are Stars.
Watching them is the most awesome pleasure I've had in a cinema since "Breakdance II - Electric Boogaloo". And I'm not just saying that.
"Moulin Rouge" is not perfect - critics who accuse it of self-indulgence and inanity are not exactly wrong, but they miss the point: it's a film about surface and image and glamour and silly lovesongs and the deep and profound pleasure those trivial things can provide. Thanks for reading.