Title: Baz Luhrmann : interviews /
Authors: Luhrmann, Baz; Ryan, Tom,
Year: 2014
Subjects: Luhrmann, Baz Interviews.; Luhrmann, Baz; Motion picture producers and directors Australia Interviews.; Motion picture producers and directors; Australia
Abstract: This is a fascinating collection of interviews with Academy Award winning director Baz Luhrmann. Though he has made only five films in two decades - Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and the Oscarnominated films Moulin Rouge!, Australia, and The Great Gatsby - Australian writer-director Baz Luhrmann is an internationally known brand name. His name has even entered the English language as a verb, as in "to Baz things up," meaning "to decorate them with an exuberant flourish." Celebrated by some, loathed by others, his work is underscored by what has been described as "an aesthetic of artifice" and is notable for both its glittering surfaces and recurring concerns. In this collection of interviews, Luhrmann discusses his methods and his motives, explaining what has been important to him and his collaborators from the start and how he has been able to maintain an independence from the studios that have backed his films. He also speaks about his other artistic endeavours, including stage productions of La Boheme and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his wife and collaborative partner Catherine Martin, who has received two Academy Awards for her work with Luhrmann.
Contents: Stepping out: behind the scenes of strictly ballroom / Ruth Hessey (1992) -- More than romance colors strictly ballroom / Peter Brunette ( 1993) -- Romeo + Juliet: "appear thou in the likeness of a sigh . . ." / Mark Mordue (1997) -- Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet / Pauline Adamek (1997) -- Baz on the Bard / Peter Malone (1997) -- Shakespeare in the cinema: a Cineaste interview / Gary Crowdus (1998) -- Baz Luhrmann / Elsie M. Walker (2008) -- Broadly speaking / Sonya Voumard (1997) -- The director: Baz Luhrmann / Bec Smith ( 2001) -- Moulin rouge! / Serena Donadoni (2001) -- Millennial mambo: Baz Luhrmann messes with the musical because he can-can / Ray Pride (2001) -- The man behind the red curtain / Terry Keefe (2001) -- Baz Luhrmann: the ringmaster / John Lahr (2002) -- Baz Luhrmann / Harvey Kubernik (2006) -- Closing the red curtain with La Boheme / Terry Keefe (2004) -- Australia: Baz Luhrmann interview / Rob Carnevale (2009) -- Strictly Luhrmann: where he leads, we will follow / James Mottram (2010) -- The romantic / Garry Maddox (2013) -- Baz Luhrmann's despair, drive, and gamble behind great Gatsby / Stephen Galloway (2013) -- Past is present in the new Gatsby / Tom Ryan (2013) -- Appendix: notes from John Duigan and Geoffrey Nottage.