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Moulin Rouge (Red Windmill) is an infamous 19th century music hall (read nightclub) in Paris. It churns out exuberant cancan dancers with scarlet lips and corsets all primed to "entertain" masculine libidos. Director Baz Luhrmann uses this "heart of Paris nightlife" as the milieu for his recent film
Moulin Rouge but it is not history.
Christian (Ewan McGregor) leaves his home in London and moves to Montmarte, Paris to try his
luck as a playwright. He befriends bohemian artists headed by Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) who invites him to write a play professing the bohemian ideals of truth,
beauty, freedom and love. The musical extravaganza is entitled "Spectacular, Spectacular" and it will showcase Moulin Rouge's most desirable courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman).
They sell the concept to the nightclub's owner Harold Zidler who finds a financier in the Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh). Satine mistakenly identifies Christian as her
man of the night and promptly seduces him. That is until the Duke claims her for the evening. The Duke agrees to finance Christian's play and the renovation of Moulin Rouge
into a legitimate theater on one condition. He gets Satine's favors exclusively. The problem is Christian and Satine start falling in love with each other.
Moulin Rouge transports us to the seedy and flamboyant 19th century Paris with its impressive sets, costumes, make-up and choreography using extreme close ups and impatient editing at dizzying speed. Although the story is simple, the film is high on style. It juxtaposes centuries and cultures by paying homage to Broadway musicals in gaudy and outrageous production numbers with characters breaking out into song from the 20th century. The modern rendition of classic love songs through which the lovers interact works well. Nicole Kidman delivers her best performance yet and Ewan McGregor's Christian embody romantic love in all its naivete. The lead stars' singing voices, although not perfect, are impressive.
Moulin Rouge offers no apologies for the creatures of the underworld in skimpy clothes and seductive dances. They exist solely to entertain, and no matter what happens, the show must go on. In an atmosphere charged with sex for sale, true love blooms, powerful enough to sacrifice one's dreams, security, even one's entire life for the beloved. The film shows that life has no value without love and it uses a line from Nat King Cole's Nature
Boy: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Because of the theme, the way prostitution is glamorized and the bohemian concept of anti-socialism and the use of mind-altering substances (alcohol, Absinthe – a hallucinogenic beverage) in order to be creative,
Moulin Rouge may not be appropriate for viewers younger than 14 years of age.
(Date reviewed: August 3, 2001)
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