before this, i hated 'your song'...

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2001)

ok, so i have now seen this movie 4 times. i have made others see it with me. i have the soundtrack. but there is not a single song in that movie (of the covers, that is) that i liked, or even tolerated, before i saw the movie. but now, when i listen to the soundtrack, i feel the way i usually feel when i listen to the smiths. but enough about the music...
i am not quite sure what has drawn me to this movie. the first time i saw it, about 2 weeks after it opened, the theater was packed for the matinee. the audience was 'into' this movie, which perhaps enhanced my view of it. people laughed, people cried, everyone stayed till the end of the credits (!). the males in the audience were crying! i was crying! it was an audience love-in. the second time i saw it a few days later, it was again packed. people walking in were singing 'because we can can can'. there was a grandmother with her grandson. they both left crying. as did i. by the third and fourth times i saw it, i was bawling openly for the last 20 minutes.
i can imagine that those who are not used to the lightning-fast style of mtv would get a little disturbed by the editing style, but i found that it really enhanced the whirlwind feeling of suddenly being dropped into the moulin rouge. people who know me cannot believe that i would be so attracted to a movie about a love story. the last movie i saw this many times was fight club. i think this movie appeals to a very broad audience: those who appreciate the absurd, those who watch mtv, those who like musicals, those who like tragic love stories, those who have always wanted to see ewan mcgregor not looking emaciated...
to all filmmakers: more musicals please!!!