Nothing short of Fantastic!

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2001)

Wow! I'm in love with this movie. I rarely, if ever, return to the theater to see a movie for a second time. The last time I did this I was about 10 years old and my mother gave me hell when I got home. In the last 3 weeks, I've seen Moulin Rouge 3 times, and I still haven't tired of it.
This movie gives and gives and gives, never holding back. The combination of the beautiful sets, the story, the love songs, and the bold, bold courageous way in which all of it was done all combine to make a great movie, not just Oscar worthy, but a classic that may last years. The set design is lush, full of brilliant eye popping colors and gorgeous sets depicting turn of 20th century Paris and the dark "underworld" of the Moulin Rouge theater. Particularly, I loved the set in the Satine's bedroom, the vivid red and blue colors, hearts within hearts, and, of course, the elephant building where she lived.
I'm not a lover of pop music, but I loved the way all of the music was used to tell the story of Satine, the courtesan, and Christian, the poet. Almost every time a song was introduced, the audience would titter as people recognized the most popular songs of the 70's 80's and 90's--which may or may not have been the movie's intent. Nevertheless, each time this happened, I felt a playfulness here that eventually resolved itself into something deeper and more profound. It was as if the movie was saying go ahead, let's have some fun here, but we're going to take you further than you originally expected, and I believe that Moulin Rouge did this from the very start, crescendoing to the very end, taking us deeper and deeper. Take for instance, when the song Touched Like a Virgin starts, we can't think of anything but Madonna, but upon further reflection, this song speaks so truthfully of Satine who's heart is opened for the very first time to the possibilities of love with a poor poet. In this new context we find how well this song speaks to our feelings of open heartedness (virginity of the heart) when we are in love.
Lastly, I was very taken with the story of the poet's love for the beautiful courtesan and her inner struggle between her love for him and her lust for wealth and fame. The theme of love--the most important thing to know is to love and to know that you are loved in return--that love is at the core of our very humanity--that in spite of egoistic distractions, love is how we truly find ourselves.