I loved it, myself. My parents didn't get it at all. And it's what probably put me over the top having a crush on Ewan MacGregor.
Si I finally saw Moulin Rouge!
- Thread starter Flying Spaghetti Monster
- Start date
I guess I don't understand a musical.
With most film genres, even ones I don't like, I can kind of at least attempt top appreciate what is happening based all of the things that make most types of films, regardless of the genre, work. Things like, tension, suspense, humor, what's important to character, how a screenplay is constructed, and how various aspects lead to various payoffs. But, in musicals, there is so much gimmickry, so much distraction, and in the case of this film, the characters are singing about everything, and these songs can't possibly exist in the same time frame and dramatic word as the rest of events, because once a song starts, I become disconnected from the material.
Compare to my favorite musical: Oliver! The songs are memorable, and the story is fantastic, and the songs tend to accentuate the narrative and build character. They never bring the narrative to halt. Same with most Disney films. But Moulin Rouge has no tension, no reason to be hooked, and the songs - as well as the visuals that accompany them - are distracting. And just because the songs are differently arranged than when we've heard them before still doesn't make them sound new or original.
With most film genres, even ones I don't like, I can kind of at least attempt top appreciate what is happening based all of the things that make most types of films, regardless of the genre, work. Things like, tension, suspense, humor, what's important to character, how a screenplay is constructed, and how various aspects lead to various payoffs. But, in musicals, there is so much gimmickry, so much distraction, and in the case of this film, the characters are singing about everything, and these songs can't possibly exist in the same time frame and dramatic word as the rest of events, because once a song starts, I become disconnected from the material.
Compare to my favorite musical: Oliver! The songs are memorable, and the story is fantastic, and the songs tend to accentuate the narrative and build character. They never bring the narrative to halt. Same with most Disney films. But Moulin Rouge has no tension, no reason to be hooked, and the songs - as well as the visuals that accompany them - are distracting. And just because the songs are differently arranged than when we've heard them before still doesn't make them sound new or original.
I have never seen Moulin Rouge although I totally love Luhrmann's version of Romeo + Juliet. But that's because I love putting Shakespeare in a modern setting, it really has nothing to do with the person who made the film.
It wasn't exactly a "modern" setting, but have you ever seen McKellan's "Richard III"? I enjoyed that one quite a bit.
^ Yep, I also have that one as well. I love the bit where Richard's jeep is stuck in the mud and that's the reason for his "My kingdom for a horse" line. 
Now I'm waiting for Titus to come to Blu-Ray. That one freely mixes anachronisms from a dozen different time periods!
Now I'm waiting for Titus to come to Blu-Ray. That one freely mixes anachronisms from a dozen different time periods!
Baz Luhrman movies are over the top spectacles, movie length music videos full of grand emotions and themes.
As with many things you simply have to like his style.. many people dislike Tarantino movies (i adore them) because it's not up to their taste. That's fine but at least Luhrman has a distinctive style and goes outside the standard Hollywood formula once in a while.
I really liked Romeo + Juliet with a young DiCaprio and Danes or Strictly Ballroom which also had some outrageous characters. Moulin Rouge, when i saw it at a friends place, instantly rocked to the top of my charts because i'm a sucker for good cover versions of songs i like and i was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the actor's singing.
The tango scene to Police's Roxanne has got to be one of the best covers i ever saw and the dancing of Tango (real argentinian Tango and not the ballroom crap) just made it perfect.. or one of my Queen favorites "The Show must go on" (written by Freddy at the height of his AIDS sickness shortly before he died).
Simply put.. it's one of my favorite movie musicals.
As with many things you simply have to like his style.. many people dislike Tarantino movies (i adore them) because it's not up to their taste. That's fine but at least Luhrman has a distinctive style and goes outside the standard Hollywood formula once in a while.
I really liked Romeo + Juliet with a young DiCaprio and Danes or Strictly Ballroom which also had some outrageous characters. Moulin Rouge, when i saw it at a friends place, instantly rocked to the top of my charts because i'm a sucker for good cover versions of songs i like and i was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the actor's singing.
The tango scene to Police's Roxanne has got to be one of the best covers i ever saw and the dancing of Tango (real argentinian Tango and not the ballroom crap) just made it perfect.. or one of my Queen favorites "The Show must go on" (written by Freddy at the height of his AIDS sickness shortly before he died).
Simply put.. it's one of my favorite movie musicals.
It's actually been at least 11 years since I've seen it. But my sister's old VHS copy is right by the VCR, so I've been meaning to give it another watch recently. (I'm finding that Nicole Kidman is one of those actresses that I find more attractive the older I get.
)
Overall, I remember liking it a lot. "Mawkish" is probably the right word to describe the story. And I'm not a huge fan of all of the songs they used. But I do enjoy the pacing of the film. The style works just right. The production numbers are all flawlessly executed. And Kidman, McGregor, & Leguizamo are all such great actors that they can pretty much sell anything. Truth the told, I was 100% sold on the film the moment Leguizamo first enters.
I'm less enthused with some of Luhrman's other work. Australia was too long & too dull. Romeo + Juliet went too far with its stylization.
Actually, come to think of it, I think Moulin Rouge may be the last time I liked Nicole Kidman in anything. She's seemed a bit dull & lifeless in some of her more recent leading roles, like Australia, Birth, & The Invasion. And she's a bit too cold & arch when playing villains in movies like The Golden Compass. I guess she was OK in Nine (the most underrated musical of the last decade).
)Overall, I remember liking it a lot. "Mawkish" is probably the right word to describe the story. And I'm not a huge fan of all of the songs they used. But I do enjoy the pacing of the film. The style works just right. The production numbers are all flawlessly executed. And Kidman, McGregor, & Leguizamo are all such great actors that they can pretty much sell anything. Truth the told, I was 100% sold on the film the moment Leguizamo first enters.
I'm less enthused with some of Luhrman's other work. Australia was too long & too dull. Romeo + Juliet went too far with its stylization.
Actually, come to think of it, I think Moulin Rouge may be the last time I liked Nicole Kidman in anything. She's seemed a bit dull & lifeless in some of her more recent leading roles, like Australia, Birth, & The Invasion. And she's a bit too cold & arch when playing villains in movies like The Golden Compass. I guess she was OK in Nine (the most underrated musical of the last decade).
My favorite Kidman roles are where she's a villain, such as To Die for and
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Malice
Ordinarily I would never go for filmmaking as garish as this, but I just like Shakespeare. And as I said, I love it when they put the Bard in a modern setting (re: R&J in modern day California, Hamlet in New York City, etc.).
That being said, I still wonder what exactly the hell happened to the Ian McKellen / Patrick Stewart project: The Merchant of Vegas...
That being said, I still wonder what exactly the hell happened to the Ian McKellen / Patrick Stewart project: The Merchant of Vegas...
I like Shakespeare in modern settings. Well, I think he probably works best in 19th century settings, like Kenneth Branagh's movies. But I'll still take modern over Elizabethan. I liked that recent Ralph Fiennes version of Corioulainus. I haven't seen the Ian McKellen Richard III since it first came out. I remember this really good stage production I saw of Two Gentlemen of Verona that was set in early silent-era Hollywood. Plus, of course, Twelfth Night of the Living Dead!
But Romeo + Juliet is a bit too garish for me, particularly in the part where Romeo kills Tybalt.
"Boa fight!"
But Romeo + Juliet is a bit too garish for me, particularly in the part where Romeo kills Tybalt.
"Boa fight!"
^ Yep, I also have that one as well. I love the bit where Richard's jeep is stuck in the mud and that's the reason for his "My kingdom for a horse" line.
Now I'm waiting for Titus to come to Blu-Ray. That one freely mixes anachronisms from a dozen different time periods!
I think Titus was out on Blu-Ray, I own Titus but can't remember if its on DVD or Blu-Ray. However I'm pretty sure that its Blu-Ray. All my movies are packed for moving, so I can't check. Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare movie set in a modern time but Titus has a special place in my heart. I think its Julie Taymor's design sense, I love Anthony Hopkins in it.
From what I dimly remember of my only attempt to watch the movie, I liked pretty much everything except the 1.5 shots/2 seconds pace, which was so frenetic the whole thing just gave me a headache. I might like if I watched it again, but I can't help suspecting the same footage could have yielded a much better movie with a more traditional editor.
That is really only the beginning and a few transitions. Christian is experiencing this colorful, busy world for the first time, and being pushed through it by his new 'friends' without really knowing what is going on and it is overwhelming to him and (through the appropriate editing) also to us. Once he gets to the elephant, the only really frenetic sequence is their impromptu song for the count, which is also quite thematically suitable. The style of editing carries through in little bits here and there, but it becomes overall much more refined and sort of dreamlike before amping back up (to a faster pace, but not nearly as disorienting) for the climax.
Respectfully, I don't agree. I was really trying to be as level-headed as I culd be when I watched this movie. I might not be as familiar with musicals, though there are some that I like, I was trying to examine the shots, the story, the compositions, the tension, the acting, etc.. all of those aspects that I can evaluate on every film I watch.
Then I remembered Siskel and Ebert's review of Batman and Robin, and Siskel complained not about the thin story or the return to campiness in that film.. he didn't even complain about the direction the franchise was going. He simply said that the movie was over-produced that it felt so bloated. That there was nothing left of the film but its own extravagant ego about itself. I felt that his words applied to this film.
I disagree on both counts and find your comparison simply nonsensical. Moulin Rouge is an emotional rollercoaster using musical numbers, creative editing and an overall "staged" production design to emphasize Christian's journey while B&R is basically just a toy commercial and a parody of Tim Burton's Batman combined with some 60s nostalgia and neon. It too is often "stagey" due to the outlandish sets and action sequences but comes off as cartoonish rather than theatrical. "Over-produced" can mean a great many things and while you could make an argument for applying it to both films, they themselves have almost nothing in common except for being visually "extravagant".
Well, like I implied, the conventions of the musical genre play by a few different rules than other genres, but I really tried to appreciate at least that aspect of the film... his journey.. but instead of being pulled in by the elaborate production, I felt very distanced. If the filmmakers wanted me to connect to a character, let us connect, you don't need to throw all of these shots and camera angles at us, with rapid-fire editing. Sure, Batman and Robin was a toy commercial, and it was made for kids, but the very same aspects about it that keep adult's at arm's length from that film did the same for me during Moulin Rouge.
