Art, Trash, Love, Tragedy & Post Modernism in one amazing film

Rating: Null/10 (7 April 2002)

Okay, let's get one thing straight out of the gates. Art is a subjective thing and everyone has their own personal definition of what is good art and bad art. I'm not going to come out and say that Moulin Rouge IS cinematic art, but I think I can safely say that it's trying to do what good art has always set out to do, and that is engage the audience and make them work a little, think a little and feel a LOT. I think it's great the the film has generated such a polarized response in viewers. If nothing else, that means that it's definitely NOT a middle of the road movie. Let's forget about Baz Luhrmann and his rhapsodizing about "heightened reality" and "establishing a contract with the audience" or "decoding the period for modern viewers." What he's done in this lavish, challenging and often extreme film is what the very best art attempts to do; communicate the basic human experience (In this case, love and the beauty/tragedy thereof) by stripping it down to bare essentials, by exaggerating certain elements, by putting all the artifice available to modern artists in order to explore a basic and primal element of our lives. In a world where we have come to acknowledge that there's no such thing as an original idea, only original variations, it's nice to see someone produce a wonderful, original variation that is unapologetic, dynamic and engaging.
There is nothing naturalistic about this film, but then there is very little naturalistic in what most consider the great works of art our time. It is fun, it is BIG, it is fast, touching, sentimental, rebellious. It is the very essence of the Bohemian ideals it espouses if Bohemians were given a multi-million dollar budget and lifetime supply of absinthe for "inspiration".
This is not a movie for everyone. Literalists should stay far, FAR away. Lazy viewers should not even leave the house, because it's not that kind of film. But if you're willing to work a little, to buy into what the movie is selling, and to take the hand extended to you when the rollercoaster arrives, you'll find a movie full of hard work, technical mastery, amazing performances and, best of all, a reason to maybe not be so cynical about people, the world we live in, and above all things, love.

Bazmark productions should be very proud of what they've created. They set out to provoke something in the world of movies and I think they've done that. This film will be an influence on young film makers, dreamers and lovers for years to come. I applaud Baz Luhrmann for doing what so many aspire to and few actually do; taking a risk on something that matters. And being willing to let the rest of the world see it.