Artsy & "Spectacular! Spectacular!" Movie-making at its Best!

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2007)

Baz Luhrmann is a visionary. What a joy it must have been to work with him on this ambitious project. He took the simple theme of "Love" and made it into something ravishing, seductive and new. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman were outstanding in their heartfelt portrayals. This rendition of storytelling was offbeat and new - but it was brilliant. My hat goes off to this production team for their effort at making this come off successfully (not just in terms of box office success but more importantly in artistic merit). The collage of musical numbers put together would have been more than enough for most movie producers to handle but this film enjoys many avenues of delightful artistic achievement that it would take a small volume just to review the highlights of them all. Using the singing voices of the actors lends an air of authenticity and realism which pays off handsomely with a successful emotional tugging at the heartstrings. This is as successful an artistic attempt as "Chicago" the musical is a failure. Hollywood just knee-jerked a reaction the following year to this "foreign" film by producing "Chicago" which has absolutely no storyline of consequence and certainly no artistic worthiness. The acting is pathetic and Hollywood failed in its attempt to come back with a superior film to "Moulin Rouge", although they gave it every award under the sun to save face. Doesn't pride come before a fall? The fact is Hollywood is not producing the best films anymore and they just cannot accept it. Too bad! Maybe it is time for them to clean up their act! Good Luck to them! Meanwhile "Moulin Rouge" stands out as a beacon of light and hope for the future of movie-making around the world. A simple love story told beautifully is better than no story told with angst and glitz!