The Sparkling Diamond

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2013)

"Moulin Rouge" (2001) starts out in Paris with Christian (Ewan McGregor), a young writer who has just come from London, England. The writer begins to type his story, his story of love, jealousy, and betrayal, and how he learned the most important thing in life to learn, "just to love, and be loved in return". He begins with end; the woman he loves is dead. It all started a year before, when he first arrived in Paris, France. He rents a room in a hotel and after getting situated, has an unconscious Argentinian (Jacek Koman) fall through his ceiling. He is introduced to the Moulin Rouge through Toulouse (John Leguizamo) and thus begins the story. The love of his life is Satine (Nicole Kidman), the young and very beautiful star courtesan of the night club, Moulin Rouge. He is introduced to her through Toulouse and through a misunderstanding of him being a Count, becomes involved with the Moulin Rouge indefinitely.
The film's central idea seems to be that love is the most important thing in life, and the most important lesson to be learned is to love and be loved in return. He does very well at trying to convey that message, and even begins the movie with such. He stresses how important the lesson is, but does well to include comedic areas in Moulin Rouge to not make the whole movie seem so oppressive and heavy. It is a great story about truth, beauty, freedom, and above all else, love.
The whole movie is utterly amazing and appealing, and I highly applaud the director, Baz Luhrmann. Although the cinematography could use some help in spots, such as the scene on top of the elephant, the rest of the cinematography was very enjoyable to watch. The characters are realistic and believable, as if they could exist during the time period and area. The colors are dark to convey the dark plot and being about a very seedy nightclub of the film. It's a musical, and the music chosen for this film were perfect choices for this film, especially since all of the music was mostly modern. Altogether, the film was fantastic, and I would recommend anyone who enjoys a good love story or musical to watch this film and enjoy the dark playground that is Moulin Rouge.