A non-traditional film about traditional idealism

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2003)

Baz Luhrmann has perfected one of the ADD generation's greatest feats: keep the attention of your audience while not sacrificing plot or character development. The suspension of disbelief that Baz so quickly threw out is not necessary to make us care about his characters, Satine and Christian. He doesn't cop out with a la-dee-da story, where all the characters live happily ever after. We find this out from the get-go when Christian introduces us to the story. At the same time, he doesn't make us think we're seeing a happy story only to surprise us at the end with a tragic surprise (this is also accomplished by Christian's introduction). In short, Baz created a film the only way it can be effectively created: in a way that is both traditional and non-traditional, in that it matches more the Greek tragedy than the Hollywood blockbuster, while at the same time boasting a musical score that includes everything from Fatboy Slim to Elton John to Nirvana. He has a lot of story to cover in a short period of time, and he performs wonderfully.