"The show must go on, Satine. We're creatures of the underworld. We can't afford to love." (Zidler)

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2001)

May 2011 update: Watched it last night. Still entertaining after all these years!
SPOILERS, but further down in this review. "Moulin Rouge" caught me totally off guard. It is not a re-make of anything. It does not purport to tell any historically-accurate story. It is set in 1899 and 1900 Paris, at the Moulin Rouge "entertainment" complex, owner and show-master Zidler (Jim Broadbent) was a real person. Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) was primarily a painter that visited brothels, and died in 1901. However, the main characters Satine (Nicole Kidman, 34) the courtesan and entertainer, Christian (Ewan McGregor, 30) the young writer, and the jealous Duke are all fictional.
What caught me off-guard is the style. It is a dream-scape fairytale, it is whimsical, it is a comedy with some tragedy thrown in at the climax. It is two hours of exotic music videos with dialog thrown in to bridge the musical numbers. It is what a Salvadore Dali musical would look like, if he had been a director instead of artist. Everything is shot on a large inside set in Australia, and combined with models and CG effects, blended seamlessly to create an auditory and visual display rarely seen on film. In fact, the whole film reminds me more of an elaborate stage production with lots of set changes. I really enjoyed it, I watched it twice, on successive days. I rate it "9" of 10.
Director and writer Luhrmann uses a simple and easy to follow story. Christian is idealistic, moves to Paris to write about truth, beauty, freedom, and especially LOVE. Even though he's never been in love. Lautrec and his cronies, "bohemians", are struck with Christian's ability to write beautiful poetry, actually words from 20th century love songs from the likes of Beatles, Estevan, Parton, Elton John. They want him to write the new musical "Spectacular Spectacular", he falls in love with Satine, the Duke agrees to finance renovations to the Moulin Rouge, but Zidler must promise him Satine or forfeit the deed to the place. Much of the middle of the film deals with Satine and Christian's trying to carry on a love affair while keeping it from the jealous Duke.
Some viewers, not understanding the concept, objected to the use of modern lyrics in an 1899 Parisian setting. As Luhrmann explains, for the story to work, the "poetry" that Christian writes must be by consensus some of the most beautiful of all time. The only way to do that is to use lyrics of songs that have, by popular acclaim, become the best. "All You Need Is Love." "Silly Love Song." And all the others. Since the whole film is a comedic dream-scape fantasy, it works!
The film starts at the end, with Christian in 1900 writing his story of the past year. He tells us in the first scene that the woman he fell in love with is dead. So we don't have that suspense during the film, we know how it will end. The whole fun is letting our senses be taken in, and just enjoy watching the story unfold. Satine dies on stage, at the end of the opening performance of "Spectacular Spectacular." And, in the last scene, Christian is completing his story, on his typewriter, about the need for love in our lives.
Neither Kidman nor McGregor had ever sung professionally before, in any capacity. For actors they did quite well, although it is very clear that they are not singers. In particular, McGregor's shouted out high notes, done without any vibrato, became pretty irritating after a while. Yet, with a little more training, he could be good enough to play Elton John, if someone wanted to film his life story. But the best singer overall was Jim Broadbent, with a very fine, resonant and lyrical voice. That was a pleasant surprise.
Anyone watching "Moulin Rouge" at home on videotape is missing about 75% of the fun. The DVD has great picture and sound, with either Dolby or DTS digital surround tracks selectable. The extra on the first disk puts a green "fairy" at several points and if you press "enter" on the player's remote, takes you to a couple of minutes of behind-the-scenes explanations, which I found very enjoyable on second viewing. The second disk has a lot more extras, showing about everything one wants to know about the making of this film. I like to study, not just watch, a good film, and this DVD has some of the best extras I've seen so far.
And finally, it is refreshing to see a fine film with no nudity, no curse words, and no killing. My hat off to Luhrmann, I wish more directors and writers would realize how clean good movies can be.