The parallels between Moulin Rouge and Children of Paradise

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2006)

Two movies that sit near the top of my all-time list are "Moulin Rouge" and the French movie, "Children of Paradise". The parallels between the two movies are beyond coincidence.
"Children of Paradise" was released in 1946 after WWII as two movies made out of one, primarily because of its extreme length. It was made during the Nazi occupation in France in 1945, and was set on the Boulevard of Crime in Paris, in 1820. Many of the actors were Nazi collaborators, because the Germans were oversaw the production of the movie. The French who made the movie were mostly unfriendly to the Germans so many of the actors were also members of the resistance.
The two main characters, like the two main characters in "Moulin Rouge", include a timid, shy artist, Baptiste, and a prostitute, Garance. She becomes an actress by the direct influence of the shy artist. As the movie develops the courtesan ends up as a courtesan to a Duke, even though she is in love with the shy artist.
Finally Garance rejects the Duke, in this case many years later, and goes back to the artist. They finally consummate their love, but then are tragically torn apart, once more.
As with Satine in "Moulin Rouge", at least two other men are in love with the courtesan, Garance, and have their lives dramatically changed because of their attraction and commitment to her.
Arletty, the actress who played Garance, was banned from French cinema for 10 years after the war because she was judged a Nazi collaborator. She had a relationship with a Nazi Colonel during the war.
While the plots of the two movies a not exactly the same, the flavor of the movies are particularly similar. Both are set in front of and behind the stage. The action within the scenes in both movies is complex and diverse, as in a non-stop carnival. Dancers and acrobats, aristocrats and beggars fill the stages of both movies in wild celebration.
Beneath the surface, within the story lines, deceit and jealousy are played with a richness seldom seen in film.
Truth, beauty, freedom and love are questioned and examined, and finally, perhaps, found to be fleeting, at best.
The children of Paradise lived 79 years before the children of the Revolution, yet they lived in the same place, lived the life of the theater and suffered the same agony of love.
"Children of Paradise" is considered by many as the best film ever made in France. In 1947 it was nominated for "Best Writing, Original Screenplay" by the Acedamy Awards.