Moulin Rouge!
If there was any genre in dire need of a major overhaul and reimagining, it was that of the movie musical. And it’s quite easy to see why: Most musicals (with the exception of those that would use rock music) were really tepid, boring, drawn out affairs, asking us to suspend our disbelief and just accept on general principle that all of the characters lived in an alternate universe where suddenly and spontaneously bursting into song was considered to be normal, everyday behavior. Couple that with the fact that the songs themselves were, well, not exactly cool and you have the reason why as the older generations passed on and the newer generations failed to find any intrinsic value in such films (even those that are widely considered classics) why this form of storytelling would mostly stay relegated to the Broadway stage and not too many other places. That was until Baz Luhrmann (a director who had only made a couple of other films up to that point) decided in 2001 that the only way to do it right again would be to do it boldly, turning his epic here into a wild, in your face rollercoaster ride that at times literally challenges the viewer not to be lulled into boredom. Luhrmann claimed to have been inspired by the ridiculous Bollywood musicals out of India, a happy happy joy joy style of films designed to make the citizens of that country forget that they’re living in India, but in addition he also decided to make it a complete celebration of bohemian values contrasted with life on the streets in turn of the century 1900 Paris France and specifically inside a nightclub / brothel / party central locale known as The Moulin Rouge (which really did exist at that time) where we are told that the rich and powerful would mingle with the young and beautiful from the underworld, for a price of course. Luhrmann’s homework on the period even brought him so far as to include the real life painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec as a major character here as played by John Leguizamo (and since other films with unrelated stories about The Moulin Rouge have almost always included Toulouse-Lautrec as a character one way or the other due to his real life association with the place, him being included here is almost tradition). The story, which while thin, presents a fine paradox to the whole freewheeling lifestyle: What if your most beautiful and popular courtesan (prostitute) who is obviously your highest earner and is about to help bring aboard a very wealthy (and much needed) investor suddenly and inexplicably falls in love with a pure of heart writer whose mere words can transcend even the ugliness of their world but who is unfortunately not only broke, but with their affair literally risks the financial future of the venue by driving the potential investor away? The irony of course is that the idea of “love” as used by lower class people is never truly real but rather a buzzword used by them in order to get what they want from those who have it. We first meet the writer Christian (Ewan McGregor, showing lots of charisma and one hell of a singing voice) working away on his latest masterpiece when he is suddenly waylaid by Leguizamo’s Toulouse-Lautrec and his troupe of misfits who are busy working on their latest show. Problem is, they need a writer, and McGregor fills the bill quite nicely, so off they head to The Moulin Rouge to audition it for their Head Ringleader and Master Of Ceremonies (read: pimp) played by Jim Broadbent and his main attraction, Satine (Nicole Kidman). The fact that Kidman makes her entrance into the film effortlessly evoking the personas of both Marilyn Monroe and Madonna (two legendary female performers of questionable moral character) presenting herself as The Queen Of The Night is just the tip of the iceberg for her bravura, Oscar Nominated for Best Actress performance here. McGregor is naturally completely smitten, and when later given the chance to recite some poetry for her (all lyrics to modern era love songs), she finds herself falling hard for him too, but at great risk. Broadbent’s pimp (written to be a kind, caring sort but perhaps unintentionally also the creepiest character in the film) has promised her into the arms of his new investor (Richard Roxburgh), a Duke who has agreed to finance and renovate the place in exchange for her exclusive services, a deal that works out well for Broadbent but not necessarily for Kidman whom he has just callously dealt away as if she were just a mere bargaining chip. Roxburgh as the more obvious of the two villains in The Duke displays a sniveling, over the top acting style in the worst tradition of cartoon bad guys (though not as scary as the grotesque gargoyle played by Broadbent) and one look at another of his roles as Dracula in the Hugh Jackman version of Van Helsing shows him to be an actor who seems to specialize in going a little too hammy and thus draining the menace out of his characters (his bodyguard is a scarier guy than he). As for Broadbent, the “father figure” type role he is given is incongruent with his own character’s actions as he is possibly the most reprehensible character in the film (save for The Duke’s intentions to have McGregor murdered) and yet he is constantly portrayed as being one of the kindest and friendliest, lying to and deceiving The Duke while constantly trying to force Kidman to drop the man whom she loves so that she can go with the man who is paying him (Broadbent) as if she were just a piece of merchandise and watching Broadbent do a full tilt (and gay themed) performance of Like A Virgin (to cover for Kidman not wanting to see The Duke that night) is something that I could have lived without having seen in my lifetime. That being said, it is Luhrmann’s artistic triumphs on display as a filmmaker that really carry the film, especially in the editing, a flashing, dizzying display that shows you everything you could ever want to see in such a fashion that you just can’t look away, but that’s also not to account for the cinematography, costumes, art direction, set direction, and virtually every other technical merit being sumptuous as well. But of course the most audacious element (as was mentioned earlier) was the decision to use well known, established, real life modern pop and love songs to weave into the musical fabric of this story and also to put forth the notion that McGregor’s Christian is “The Voice Of The Bohemian Revolution” since his songs are so literally ahead of their time. The list of artists whose work is used here is a long one, with everyone from Elton John to KISS to U2 to Nirvana having at least a few bars from their material come to surface here (and reportedly The Rolling Stones turned down the opportunity to have it done as well) and the overall production itself is so lavish that even a few unseen guest vocalists contribute to the big picture, most notably Ozzy Osbourne as the voice of The Green Fairy as played onscreen by Kylie Minogue during an absinthe trip sequence. But in the end it is Kidman and McGregor (who deserved at least an Oscar nom) who really carry the day here with loads of chemistry and charisma in spite of the theatrics of the side players like Leguizamo, Broadbent and Roxburgh. Their love is a fragile one (turns out that Kidman is suffering horribly from TB) threatened to be broken up by those whom she trusts who use and control her for their own financial gain all while convincing her that it’s for her own good while those same people use McGregor for his talent and offer him little else in return. The theme is reinforced at times that falling in love with someone who sells their body is never a good idea despite the possibility that the levels of passion at their peak with such people are much higher than those compared to “normal” folks, mostly because females who are as victimized as Kidman is find the concept of real, true love to be intoxicating compared to the fake, shallow version which she peddles on a daily basis. And that is how you reinvent the Hollywood musical, a simple love story with incredibly complex themes presented in such a dazzling, whirlwind, one of a kind style that’s so damn colorful you literally can’t take your eyes off of it…
8/10