May 25, 2001
By Veronica Mixon
Writer/director Baz Luhrmann has been trying
to resurrect the movie musical and to his credit,
his efforts are imaginative, enthusiastic and
heartfelt. MOULIN ROUGE is a dazzling spectacle
of music, dance and old-fashioned show biz. Of
course the icing on the cake is the modern pop
musical numbers set amongst the late 19th century
tale of a gorgeous courtesan who is torn between
two men. The problem is that MOULIN ROUGE
is too busy for its own good and Luhrmann's zooming
camera becomes a major distraction.
The story is simple. A beautiful courtesan, Satine
(Nicole Kidman) works at the Moulin Rouge, the
most popular nightclub in Paris and she yearns
to be a big star. The club owner, Jim Broadbent
(Harold Zidler) has lured a wealthy Duke (Richard
Roxburgh) to the club to secure financing and
of course, Satine is prepared to do whatever it
takes to get the money. However, that same night,
she also meets a penniless writer, Christian (Ewan
McGregor), who is partying with his friend, Toulouse-Lautrec
(John Leguizamo). As it happens, the two men want
Satine to star in their production. The young
couple fall madly in love and they plot to get
the cash from The Duke and keep Satine out of
The Duke's clutches.
Director Baz Luhrmann, who first attempted to
re-do the musical in a previous film, William
Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, has many clever
ideas and loads of good music but it doesn't quite
gel. The constant moving camera and the quick
cuts are dizzying rather than dazzling. At one
point, I wanted to run screaming from the theater
because I couldn't even follow the actors during
the can-can number. He throws in classic scenes
of bohemian Paris, fantasy elephants from Indian
musical films and gorgeous scenes where Nicole
Kidman sings and swings over a sea of tuxedoed
admirers. I just wish Luhrmann had picked one
style and ran with it.
Both Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut) and Ewan
McGregor (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
have good voices and a wonderful lusty chemistry
that has equal parts pathos and comedy. And, because
they're good actors, you want to see their story
to the end. But, Luhrmann, who is best known for
Strictly Ballroom, is so busy with the
background pushing into the foreground that the
supporting cast becomes merely scenery.
MOULIN ROUGE cries out for heavy lobbying of
music education in the schools rather than plunking
late 20th century pop songs into late 19th century
stories. Unfortunately, with the clever short
cuts of this film, Shakespeare, and A
Knight's Tale, I feel that contemporary filmmakers
are doing the youthful audience a disservice.
I think young rock 'n' rollers could appreciate
these stories without Elton John's "Your Song,"
Paul McCartney's "All You Need Is Love" and Madonna's
"Material Girl" ringing in their ears. The challenge
has always been to create original music that
expresses the true nature of the story. After
all, audiences fell in love with "The Sound of
Music" and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friends"
back in their day and new audiences are discovering
these songs in their original context.
MOULIN ROUGE is ambitious but it doesn't
hit a delightful nerve.
.
