MOULIN ROUGE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: MOULIN ROUGE begins with a sensory
overload of images and fast cutting to create an
exuberant and viscerally exciting view of the
bohemian life in Paris of a century ago. The
flush and excitement of experiencing 1900 Paris
is surreally exaggerated. After thirty minutes
or so the pace slackens a bit, but much of the
style remains. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor
star as an expensive courtesan and the young
writer who loves her. The film is hypnotic and
entrancing. The first half-hour is worth the
price of admission all by itself. Rating: 7 (0
to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
In making love or in making musicals, you must never doubt your own abilities. Once you become self-conscious about how to do it, you probably cannot any more. The United States once was unexcelled at making musicals, from Busby Berkeley to Rogers and Hammerstein this made lots and most of the best. Now the feature-length musical has nearly died in the US except for some weak efforts in recent years to bring it back. Woody Allen's EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU was really a feeble attempt at dabbling in the genre. More recently there have been somewhat more successful attempts at the edges of the genre with SOUTH PARK and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? On the other hand, in Australia when it seems appropriate to make a musical they just dive into it with the apparent natural ease of Rooney and Garland saying, "Hey, let's put on a show." Baz Luhrmann, with the musical STRICTLY BALLROOM under his belt already, dives in with not just ease but gusto to make the fabulous musical MOULIN ROUGE. Set in 1900 Paris, the beauty of the women, the weird characters, the glamour the fin-de-siecle exuberance are presented in an explosion of sensory overload. Luhrmann does some really extraordinary things with this film. I like a director who does something unusual those now boring studio banners at the beginning of the film. It is a way to announce that this will be a creative film from the very first frame. Luhrmann has some fun with the Fox logo and theme and right away the viewer realizes this is a film that will have his eyes glued to the screen.
The plotting is somewhat familiar, but then most musicals do not have a really strong plot. Luhrmann, who both co-writes and directs, opens the film with a half-hour or more of high-energy excitement. We start with fledgling writer, Christian (played by Ewan McGregor) coming to Paris over his father's objections. Almost immediately he has an unconscious Argentinean fall through his ceiling and in moments is embroiled in writing for the film's title nitery a show called "Spectacular. Spectacular." The star of the show will be singer, courtesan, and toast of Paris, Satine (Nicole Kidman). The new show has been created by a small team of artists led by the diminutive giant Toulouse Lautrec (John Leguizamo) under the control of the impresario Zidler (Jim Broadbent having a field day). This first night Satine is scheduled to seduce the possible producer for Spectacular Spectacular, the Duke of Worcestor (Richard Roxburgh), but through a mistake in identity she seduces Christian instead. Being young and impressionable he stays seduced and in love. But the duke expects that he will get Satine as part of the deal of producing the play. From there the story borrows several plot highlights from Alexander Dumas's CAMILLE.
The film is marvelously inventive throughout, though after the first half-hour it slows considerably. Touches of that first rush include a terrific visualization of the Green Fairy said to live in bottles of that green (and literally toxic) intoxicant, absinthe. The film remains a tribute to Paris and the extravagant musical throughout, popular in Paris in the 19th and early 20th Century. Luhrmann uses music not from the period but more modern and familiar melodies choosing as the centerpiece a peculiar choice, "There Was a Boy" from the film THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR.
The film features a standout performance by Nicole Kidman in a role that seemed made for her. She is an icon playing an icon, and playing it to the hilt. Ewan McGregor, of TRAINSPOTTING and the screen's new Obi-Wan Kenobi is more than passable as the film's lead, though his singing is obviously overdubbed. Kidman does her own singing and does it as well as any professional. Jim Broadbent is delicious as the strutting and high-stepping impresario Zidler. Even the frequently irritating John Leguizamo does nicely as Lautrec. He does not seem French, of course, but then nobody else in the cast does either.
I can list on the fingers of one hand the set of musicals I actually like as musicals. I like FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, CABARET, and very few others. Most musicals I bide my time and wait for the singing to be over. This is a bide-my-time sort of musical, but it has its share of other rewards. Even I can appreciate its tributes to the stage and screen musical. I rate it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@avaya.com
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
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