Moulin Rouge **** (2001, Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo) – Classic Movie Review 436

Fancy a musical? Come to that, fancy Ewan McGregor or Nicole Kidman? All three are here in this 2001 firecracker as you’ve never seen them before, all-singing, all-dancing in an outrageously flamboyant show set in 1890s Paris.

Director Baz Luhrmann follows up his Romeo + Juliet with a new tale of doomed love, packed with pop standards and looking gorgeous. Kidman is at her most alluring as the star of the Moulin Rouge theatre, while McGregor shows off his versatility (and pretty fair singing voice) as Christian, the penniless poet who falls for her.

Alas, the beautiful, ambitious courtesan Satine (Kidman) is being courted by a rich, stuffy Englishman (Richard Roxburgh), a jealous duke. And then she’s all too soon coughing up blood – for she’s dying of TB. Doesn’t sound a lot of laughs, does it? But it’s witty, inventive, clever and hugely entertaining for all true romantics who adore those ‘silly love songs’.

Jim Broadbent amusingly sings Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’, McGregor liltingly sings Elton John’s ‘Your Song’. The chief downside is that a desperate-to-please-seeming Luhrmann nervously over-edits the piece, refusing to let any musical number flow in gracious camera movements. This creates a movie with a bitty, pop-video feel instead of one that’s a beautiful art object.

The main asset is perhaps the marvellous production (designed by Catherine Martin) that would have done credit to an old MGM musical from the golden era of Hollywood. The movie won two deserved Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (art director Catherine Martin, set decorator Brigitte Broch) and Best Costume Design (Catherine Martin, Angus Strathie). By odd coincidence, these were exactly the same wins as for John Huston’s 1952 film of the same title, with both missing out on Best Picture.

Kylie Minogue is The Green Fairy, John Leguizamo is the artist Toulouse-Lautrec and David Wenham is Audrey. It’s a mixed bunch of treats!

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 436

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