Moulin Rouge

Plot synopsis:
In the year 1900, a British writer named Christian (Ewan McGregor), suffering from depression, begins writing on his typewriter ("Nature Boy"). As Christian narrates, the film flashes back to one year earlier upon Christian's move to the Montmartre district of Paris to become a writer among members of the area's Bohemian movement. He soon discovers that his neighbours are a loose troupe of performers led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo). Toulouse-Lautrec and the others ask for Christian's help, and his writing skills allow them to finish their proposed show, "Spectacular Spectacular", that they wish to sell to the owner of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent). The group arrives at the Moulin Rouge as Zidler and his "Diamond Dog Dancers" perform for the audience ("Zidler's Rap Medley"). Toulouse arranges for Christian to see Satine (Nicole Kidman), the star courtesan, in her private quarters to present the work, unaware that Zidler is promising Satine to the wealthy and unscrupulous Duke of Monroth (Richard Roxburgh), a potential investor in the cabaret ("Sparkling Diamonds").
Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke, and dances with him before retiring to her private chamber with him to discuss things confidentially ("Rhythm of the Night", "Meet Me in the Red Room"), but soon learns he is just a writer ("Your Song"). The Duke interrupts them; Christian and Satine claim they were practicing lines for "Spectacular Spectacular". With Zidler's help, Toulouse and the rest of the troupe pitch the show to the Duke with an improvised plot about an evil maharajah attempting to woo an Indian courtesan who loves a poor sitar player ("The Pitch (Spectacular Spectacular)"). The Duke backs the show on the condition that only he may see Satine. Satine contemplates on Christian and her longing to leave the Moulin Rouge to become "a real actress" ("One Day I'll Fly Away"). Christian goes back to Satine to convince her that they should be together, she eventually falls for him ("Elephant Love Medley"). As the cabaret is converted to a theater, Christian and Satine continue seeing each other under the pretense of rehearsing Satine's lines. The Duke becomes suspicious of their frequent meetings and warns Zidler that he may stop financing the show; Zidler arranges for Satine to dine with the Duke that evening, but she falls ill from tuberculosis ("If I should die (Górecki)"). Zidler makes excuses to the Duke, claiming that Satine has gone to confession ("Like a Virgin"). Zidler learns that Satine does not have long to live. Satine tells Christian that their relationship endangers the show, but he counters by writing a secret love song to affirm their love ("Come What May").
As the Duke watches Christian rehearsing with Satine, Nini, a jealous performer, points out that the play is a metaphor for Christian, Satine and the Duke. Enraged, the Duke demands the ending be changed with the courtesan choosing the maharajah; Satine offers to spend the night with the Duke to keep the original ending. At the Duke's quarters, Satine sees Christian on the streets below, and realizes she cannot sleep with the Duke. ("El Tango de Roxanne (Roxanne)"). The Duke attempts to rape her, but she is saved by Le Chocolat, one of the cabaret dancers. Reunited with Christian, he urges her to run away with him. The Duke tells Zidler he will have Christian killed if Satine is not his. Zidler reiterates this warning to Satine, but when she refuses to return, he finally informs her she is dying ("A Fool to Believe"). Zidler tells Satine that to save Christian's life, she has to tell him that she will be staying with the Duke and she doesn't love him ("The Show Must Go On"). Christian tries following her, but is denied entry to the Moulin Rouge, and becomes depressed, even though Toulouse insists that Satine does love him.
The night of the show, Christian sneaks into the Moulin Rouge, intending to pay Satine to return his love just as the Duke paid for her ("Hindi Sad Diamonds"). He catches Satine before she steps on stage and demands she tell him she does not love him. Suddenly they find themselves in the spotlight; Zidler improvises and convinces the audience that Christian is the sitar player in disguise. Christian denounces Satine and walks off the stage. From the rafters, Toulouse cries out, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return", spurring Satine to sing the song Christian wrote to express their love. Christian returns to the stage, joining her in the song and reaffirming his love for her. The Duke orders his bodyguard to kill Christian, but is thwarted, while the Duke's own attempt is stopped by Zidler. The Duke storms out of the cabaret as Christian and Satine complete their song ("Come What May (Reprise)", "Coup d'État (Finale)").
After the curtain closes, Satine succumbs to tuberculosis. Before she dies, Christian and Satine affirm their love and she tells him to write their story. A year later the Moulin Rouge has closed down, and Christian finishes writing the tale of his love for Satine, a "love that will live forever" ("Nature Boy (Reprise)").

Tags: romantic

Review:
This romanticized treatment of the life of artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is literally one of the most colorful films ever madeAll the hues and colors in the palette go whizzing by in the Parisian streets, country homes, and cabarets of the late 19th century Can-Can girls in reds and blues, against a misty brown-gold backdrop, flourish their silks and feathers in the face and soul of dwarfed painter who could recreate their essence on canvas, yet never possess them physically It is the tragedy of Lautrec's (Jose Ferrer) life which bounces around the rainbow framework The cruel prostitute (Colette Marchand) to whom he gave his love and the young woman (Suzanne Flon) who befriended the artist motivate the narrative, from the crippling-fall in the home of his father to the death-fall in the dirty-looking saloon Brilliant work by Ferrer, fine support by Marchand and Flon, and the gaiety of Zsa Zsa Gabor cap the film.
Anyone who does not think that John Huston has a broad range as a film-maker needs to watch this and "The Dead." While he spent much of his career making gritty adventure-dramas like "The Maltese Falcon," "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," and "The Man who Would be King," he also took the time to create well-crafted pieces like "Moulin Rouge."Jose Ferrer has an astounding, almost unbelievable, performance as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a painter from late-1800's Paris who was crippled in his childhood by a horse that ran over his legs.
Ferrer brings out Henri completely, depicting him as a man who tried to run from his problems using his art and his alcohol.The film itself has a tenancy to be a little too flashy and gaudy at moments, but Huston manages to keep most of it grounded in the dramatics of the characters.
This version, so well directed by John Huston, is not a wild frenetic musical but a very touching and moving character study of the great artist Henri Toulose-Lautrec, whose legs were badly mishappen and shortened by an accident early in his life leaving him basically a midget.
As he appealed for forgiveness for his previously harsh treatment, saying "I didn't understand", all Henri's old friends from the Moulin Rouge, as spirits (or hallucinations), visited him.Like with the fine movie about Van Gogh, "Lust for Life", this even better movie is not necessarily always true to historical fact, but it is a cinematic classic.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!.
Certainly one of the most beautiful ghost stories filmed in Technicolor ("The Innocents," with Deborah Kerr, perhaps takes the prize for black and white.) "Moulin Rouge" the film is itself the ghost of Lautrec's life and art.
An almost minimalist script (minimalist writing being as daring for mainstream Hollywood in 1952 as the Can-Can was for fin de siecle Paris) supports and moves us through the exhilarating three-dimensional world of Lautrec's paintings come to life.Meticulous production design, set decoration and even costumes were created by Marcel Vertes (whose hands can be seen sketching for Jose Ferrer in closeup).
The synthesis of these artists miraculously captures the essence of Lautrec's art -- yet still is but a ghost of his "real" world and life.Each scene plays like one of Lautrec's sketches or paintings: not an extraneous line or element .
The artful script is credited to Anthony Veiller and John Huston from Pierre La Mure's novel (a ghost of a life in words alone).Collette Marchand as the prostitute, Marie Charlet, with whom Lautrec falls in love, gives one of the most indelible and convincing performances ever captured -- almost as if Huston had found a turn-of-the-century French "child of the gutters" who happened to be a brilliant actress, instead of vice versa.
She too is a kind of ghost.On his deathbed, in Huston's vision, Lautrec is visited by the dance hall ghosts of his beloved Moulin Rouge, the legendary club that still exists in Paris, in a surprisingly moving finale.Zsa Zsa Gabor looks, on first glance, impossibly beautiful.
Even artist Marcel Vertes, so responsible for the look of "Moulin Rouge" actually began his career as a forger of Lautrec works.Yet if nothing is "real" here, one finally must ask if the ghosts and demons that haunt us all, to some degree, as they do Lautrec and everyone else in this film, aren't "real" after all..
Created for the silver screen, by director John Huston, this incredible movie " Moulin Rouge " stars the very versatile actor, Jose Ferrer.
Despite being from a family of wealth, he chose a bohemian life as an adult, and he spent much of his time in the seamy areas of Paris, where he would create sketches, drawings, and paintings in the cabarets and brothels.As Toulouse-Lautrec, Jose Ferrer, together with the film's screenplay, portray a man who was extremely intelligent, lonely, emotionally isolated, and depressed.
"Moulin Rouge" is an extremely well-made movie about the life of the famous French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
John Huston, the director of this movie, did an excellent job in depicting the life of Toulouse-Lautrec, a painter who lived a life of hardships yet became one of the most respected painters in the world.
This biopic of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec achieves some of the best results to that end, not surprisingly as it is the result of a collaboration between director John Huston, himself a painter, and noted "specialist" cinematographer Oswald Morris, who went on to win an Oscar for his work here.The opening twenty minutes of Moulin Rouge is absolutely stunning.
In the scene where Lautrec senior confronts his son in Paris, I can imagine that Huston would have wanted to keep them in separate shots anyway to emphasise the lack of warmth between them, but as it is it looks too obvious and artificial.Story-wise, this is a pretty good attempt at showing a three-dimensional view of a life story.
It's also perhaps Huston's most personal film, as apparently at one point he planned to make a documentary on French painters.Comparisons are inevitable between Moulin Rouge and Lust for Life, Vincente Minnelli's 1956 biopic of Vincent van Gogh.
It's interesting though that while both Lautrec and Van Gogh were depressive individuals who lead pretty tragic lives, Moulin Rouge is overall pessimistic in tone, whereas Lust for Life leaves you feeling uplifted and positive.
John Huston's "Moulin Rouge", the story of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, deserves more respect than that.I have fond memories of this film.
Although I was young at the time, experiences such as that may explain why I also became an artist.Nostalgia aside, more astute critics of the film noted that the film struggled to keep up the pace after the opening 20 minutes.So much leaps from the screen as Toulouse-Lautrec is introduced during an evening at the Moulin Rouge in 1890.
The whole thing is a kaleidoscope of colour, movement and sound inspired by Lautrec's posters; all this in the first 20 minutes!When the Moulin Rouge closes for the evening and Lautrec wanders on his crippled legs out into the dark Parisian night, the contrast is stunning, and that is exactly the effect I think Huston wanted to create, the Moulin Rouge was the spice of life for Lautrec; the outside world was harsh reality: loneliness, rejection and despair.No film about artists combines their story with their art as perfectly as this one does.
Whether or not the film accurately portrays the life and personality of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec correctly, one thing you certainly have to say about "Moulin Rouge" is that it is a gorgeous movie.
Set around the fictionalised experiences of Toulouse-Lautrec this is a quite moving account of one man's search for love and artistic acceptance whilst struggling with his own sense of remoteness brought on by his disability.The film is a touch longer than I felt it needed to be (some of the musical numbers could have quite easily been cut) and occasionally seems to lose it's momentum but is saved by gloriously gaudy direction and a great performance by Jose Ferrer as the diminutive Toulouse-Lautrec.The scenes in the Moulin Rouge don't really convey how outrageous this club must have been back then - but I suppose that says more about our society than the film.
Having said that, most of the dances come across as saucy fun and give you a bit of an idea of the atmosphere in the club.This stands alone as a well crafted film that needs no comparisons with any other versions of Moulin Rouge due to it's focus on the difficult love and remoteness of it's main character.
But I insisted that there's no film like the original (i.e. the REAL) "Moulin Rouge." It's a biography of the renown French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from the 1890s who had very short legs and grew to stand only about 4'11" due to an accident and bone disease.
He would spend time at a local cabaret, Moulin Rouge, where he'd find inspiration for his art, as well as fuel for his increasing alcoholism.Although Henri (José Ferrer) was brilliant artistically & intellectually, he understandably had a poor self-image due to his dwarfism, which was constantly reinforced by various mean-spirited people.
This is an important part; take note.Since the film is a biography it could only end one way, but I won't spoil it for you if you're not familiar with the true story.The film was shot in Paris and England and runs 2 hours.FINAL WORD: Make no mistake, "Moulin Rouge" is a masterpiece.
And one of the best is Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.The real test for me is that I am the last to claim any kind of art expertise, but I can feel Ferrer's portrayal of Lautrec the man and the artist right down to the marrow of my bones.
The frightening thought is what that life might have been like if Lautrec did not have art as an outlet for his tormented emotions.According to the films of John Huston, Ferrer was fitted with a device on both legs that allowed him to walk on his knees.
Known popularly in the English speaking world as Where Is Your Heart, it is lipsynched in the film by Zsa Zsa Gabor, her one foray into real acting.A good cyber friend from France tells me the original song is titled Moulin Des Amours.
I'd like to see how accurately Huston really did capture the atmosphere of Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris.Colette Marchand was also nominated in the Supporting Actress category for her portrayal of the streetwalker who breaks Ferrer's heart, but also serves as a model for some of his work.
Not that the Huston seemed very much of a work in its day but, compared to the recent monstrosity it has some things going for it; Oswald Morris's colour photography for instance; reds, yellows and greens, almost giving the impression of having been filtered through smoke, a wonderful cinematic counterpart to the art of Toulouse-Lautrec.
This dreary biopic about Toulouse-Lautrec, directed by the usually reliable John Huston, only proves that no one has yet been able to make a compelling movie about the famous painter or the Moulin Rouge of turn-of-the-20th-century Paris.
Huston's film is just boring.I can't imagine why the screen writer for this film would choose someone as interesting as Toulouse-Lautrec, whose contribution to the visual arts would make a perfect subject for a movie, and then decide to make some stupid, dull romance the focus.
The scenes in the Moulin Rouge are diverting, because at least there's some energy to them, even if Huston can't film a dance number to save his life.
Moulin Rouge is the story of the great artist-caricaturist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
When that figure happens to be Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, whose life circled around the Moulin Rouge, this obstacle becomes a big hurdle, and the viewer is often left puzzled.
Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Colette Marchand Shine in John Huston Film!.
Joes Ferrer is painter Toulouse-Lautrec in this lush, colorful film co-written and directed by John Huston.
He exuded a warmth towards those he knew and conversed with at the Moulin Rouge, as if he knew all about them and loved them for who and what they are, because he himself as Toulouse Lautrec, not being like everyone else, needed self-affirmation and therefore knew how to be open towards others and how to really connect to people without judgment.
John Huston's portrait of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is vivid, colorful and energetic when it shows the dance hall can-can atmosphere but lacks substance as a biography when it deals with the painter's personal life in detail.
However, JOSE FERRER does splendidly as the crippled artist and others around him give individually fine performances.The cinematography cannot be faulted, capturing the essence of the painter's art as closely as any poster art could do--and the film seems authentically immersed in period atmosphere and background.
The best part of this generally interesting biography of Toulouse-Lautrec is probably the atmosphere of the old "Moulin Rouge" and the rest of his society.
The film succeeds insofar as it makes you want to know more about its subject, but it also leaves you with the feeling that it did not really fulfill all of its potential.The lengthy opening sequence might be the best part, as it depicts Toulouse-Lautrec in his favorite spot at the Moulin Rouge, and also introduces many of the other local figures there.
Toulouse-Lautrec's style is distinctive and pretty easy to recognize, and his art has quite a different feel to it when compared with similar scenes painted by other artists of the era, such as Renoir or Manet.
John Huston's Moulin Rouge is a beautiful but certainly flawed piece of film art.
I have seen many biopics, but very few if any have the sympathy and heart for the main character as much as this John Huston-directed film about famous French painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
Born into aristocracy, the accident left him feeling below his father's expectations so he found his niche in painting and soon moved to Paris to further explore this output.Despite being a fictional account of this great painter's life, Huston is able to derive a certain amount of realism thanks to the marvelous art and costume direction.
Set in the late 1800's of Paris, the opening scene is a wild and rambunctious evening at the famous dancing café Moulin Rouge, a favorite hangout of Lautrec and other artists.
Moulin Rouge : Toulouse-Lautrec is a movie star..
What a stupid way to say I think she was a prostitute before she was an actress or in other words, Huston hired a prostitute, to play a prostitute.I do give her credit, she made more out of a sexy voice, etc., than almost anyone in Hollywood.Jose Ferrer received an Oscar nomination for literally stumbling thru his role as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
What a wonderful movie this is, the tragic life of Toulouse Lautrec so well played by José Ferrer, The costumes, the dancing, the wonderful paintings of Lautrec, it is all there.And let's not forget the lovely Zsa Zsa Gabor in one of her first movies as the singer/dancer Jane Avril.
He's a riot.This is a somewhat romanticized version of Toulouse-Lautrec's life, with John Houston attempting, successfully, to incorporate Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings into the film, capturing the poses, the colors, the atmosphere of the Moulin Rouge, the dancers, the different characters, and finally, capturing Paris itself.
She's dubbed by Muriel Smith, the first black opera singer to work at Covent Garden - she plays the black dancer in the film.A gorgeous movie, a poignant ending, and an excellent performance by Ferrer as both Toulouse-Lautrec and his father - don't miss it..
The first has Henri falling in love with a low-class prostitute who is more interested in Henri's money than in him and, after that relationship proves disastrous, the second has a beautiful woman falling for him.I understand how this film won Oscars for "Best Art Direction-Set Decoration" and "Best Costume Design," but I am in league with those who are puzzled by how José Ferrer could have been nominated for best actor.
While Monet and Van Gogh concentrated on the countryside, and Gaughin took his genius into the colors of the tropics, Toulouse-Lautrec concentrated on the theaters, dance halls (such as Moulin Rouge) and racetracks that the society of Paris frequented (the same society that would be shown in Vincent Minelli's GIGI six years after this film was made).It is hard to find a really dramatic story about most great artists.
THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY shows how a titan in art (Michaelangelo) painted his masterpiece (The Sistine Chapel) despite his personal war with an equally determined Pope Julius II.The story in MOULIN ROUGE is how Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec had everything (talent, money, aristocratic position) but had nothing.
It's a very loose biopic of the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Jose Ferrer), crippled in early life by an accident, shown as brilliant artist but a tragic, lonely drunk.
A romantic fiction based on the life of the artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, with Jose Ferrar in the title role.
MOULIN ROUGE is an engaging and well-realised biopic of the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, directed by John Huston with skill and panache.
Jose Ferrer is absolutely convincing as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec the artist.
I am certain if you like movies from this period you will enjoy a look into the life of Henri Toulouse Lautrec.
I'm giving John Huston's MOULIN ROUGE a full ten stars even though this "biopic" of French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec plays fast and loose with some of the facts of the painter's life and about the people around him.
Basically in the year 1890 in Paris, France, young artist Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec (Oscar nominated José Ferrer) is a frequent visit at the Moulin Rouge nightclub, there he enjoys a drink of cognac and draws sketches of the dancers and singers, including Jane Avril (Zsa Zsa Gabor).
First, the Moulin Rouge, a night club in 1890s Paris, is portrayed in detail, faithfully to reviews of the time and to our very best source: Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings.