A whirl of colour and sound in the name of love

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2001)

The first 20 minutes, a kaleidoscopic whirl of colour, sound and zooming cameras, was right over the top, and probably should be avoided by anyone prone to epileptic fits, but once things settle down this is actually a charming pastiche of circus and stagecraft with a delightful soundtrack featuring a pot-pourri of love songs from most of last century. The plot is gossamer-thin, but the two principal romantic performances from Ewen Robertson as Christian and Nicole Kidman as the doomed Satine are powerful and convincing. They are supported by a galaxy of Australian talent, both in front and behind the camera, and there a few good imported performances such as Jim Broadbent as the impresario Zidler, John Leguisamo as Toulouse-Lautrec and Jacek Koman as the Narcoleptic Argentinian.
The musical numbers are a bit chopped about Â– the MTV cutting style makes a bit difficult to jump in and enjoy at times, but there are some inspired take-offs. Jim Broadfoot doing Maddona's `Like a Virgin' as he tries to persuade M le Duke (Richard Roxburgh) that's what Satine the courtesan will be like when she gets to his boudoir is hilarious. There is a very athletic production of `Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' and a nice variation of `The Sound of Music.' The cast do the singing, and sing well.
The style of production (and this is a very stylish production) reminded me a bit of the second `Babe' film and the 50s hit `Carousel.' The film as a whole is a `reality dream,' fresh and original, and dare I say it, identifiably Australian in tone and humour. It is doing good business in the US and may even recover its US $52 million budget. Baz Luhrmann must be doing something right. His motto is clearly `nothing succeeds like excess' but somehow he has got away with it here. `Strictly Ballroom,' which seemed pretty flamboyant at the time is by comparison a very staid production. I await his next film with considerable trepidation.