"Come What May." The Moulin Rouge Discussion Thread!

This is a place where anyone can pop in and out to discuss Moulin Rouge, the art, the repercussions of character decisions, symbolism, and much much more!

WELCOME!

*~The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.~*

 

Isn't the director of the Red Curtain trilogy now working on a movie version of Rent?

 

I heard that he is, but I don't know, I think that Moulin Rouge would still be better... What I love is how Baz takes something old and updates it.. what would he do with Rent? Set it in the 1700's?

 

No - he'll set it in 3056 - Century of the Machines!!! ... - - ahem - -...

Anyway - what movie in the Red Curtain trilogy do you like best? Now - think about it for a few seconds before you say Moulin Rouge.

Then say Moulin Rouge. Hee.

 

Moulin Rouge, although Romeo + Juliet is a close second.

Interesting that I come here today and see this brand new shiny thread, as I just rewatched this movie again last night!

 

You rewatch the movie EVERY night, though.

 

I actually think that Strictly Ballroom is better than Moulin Rouge. My skating coach made me watch it to study the footwork. Haven't seen R&J.

 

Okay, I've not seen Strictly Ballroom.

R + J wasn't quite as good as Moulin Rouge in my opinion, but anything Shakespeare is excellent.

One neat thing about Moulin Rouge was the way it played with tone. I loved the shifts in the type of movie you think it is throughout the film. It ends as a tragedy, but along the way it flirts with screwball comedy (The duke! Hide!) and suspense (bodyguard with the gun) and erotic thriller (Roxanne).

I also love the fact that it referenced the other two musicals that are tied with this one for Best ever made in my opinion. Singin' in the Rain is a brief visual reference when Christian spins around with the umbrella like Kelly does in the other film.

West Side Story gets the full treatement. The theme of the two musicals seems to be the same. You are where you are and who you are and you can't get away from it. West Side Story was the original tragic musical, with it's brutal portrait of the explosion of violence between street gangs that smashes the chances two young people have to love. It's the same here. Satine is a courtesan and she can't get away from it.

Interesting symbolism: in her songs Satine assumes the shape of the cross several times. A nod to her life of complete sacrifice of everything she cares about for the business? And possibly also an interesting foreshadowing of her sacrificial scene where she attempts to send Christian away so he will not die.

 

I have not yet seen Strictly Ballroom, but I have seen R&J and MR (obviously ) and I liked MR better, although R&J was handled extremely well...

I think that one reason MR is a great movie is the pacing, it never gets too choppy even as the mood changes, even though the mood change is always sudden, as in the beginning- "...dead..." Then after a short history- "Luckily, at that very moment, an unconcious Argentinian fell through my roof. He was quickly followed by a dwarf, dressed as a nun..."

I laughed so hard, and yet it fit!

 

Am I the only one who finds a similarity between Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet? No, really, I'm not crazy! I mean, think about it, a forbidden love, some humor thrown in, a tragic ending....

Okay, you're right - I am crazy. Anyway, I love this film, it is by far one of the greats, in my opinion. I'm not sure why, but one of my favorite scenes was the Tango scene. I think it was just all the passion contained in it, it was almost as though you could feel the pain they were going through. You could see the conflict in Satine's eyes, and the agony that Christian was feeling. Those emotions, all those couples dancing with such passion, and the music itself, it all mixed together to create such a powerful scene, I nearly cried when I was watching it.

 

Well the similarities to R&J are there because (as it has been touched on already), MR parallels West Side Story which is R&J in a musical form...

Baz is incredible however, because he can present a simple story so elegantly and differently, and even though we 'know' the ending, we don't know what actually happens until we get there! He even does it twice in MR, with Christian and Satine, and the characters in 'Spectacular, Spectacular'... GENIUS!

Or as Toulouse would say, "I told you, heth a geniuth!"

 

There is a terrific essay thread in the AOTC forum compairing the "classic" elements of "angsty" love between Romeo & Juliet, Anakin & Padme, and Christian & Satine. This a really well thought out essay, and since it parellels the discussion we are having here, I thought I would throw this out.

 

Very interesting essay.

I thought Moulin Rouge was brilliant despite my severe skepticism before I saw it. I knew it was either going to work or fall flat on its face.

Strictly Ballroom is a classic. I'd encourage everyone who hasn't seen it to rent it.

 

Katya_Jade....I have to agree with you on this point: I was severly skeptical of the entire concept of the movie, not to mention Nicole and Ewan singing, before I saw it. In fact, I was so uninterested by this movie, that I didn't bother to see until it came out on DVD.

When I did see it.......I really didn't know what to think. I think I was kinda dumbstruck....I knew the movie touched me, but I didn't know what to make of it. So I watched it again....I got a much better feel of the changing tone of the movie the second time. Someone mentioned this before, but I think it is a testiment to Baz's brilliance to be able to go from almost slapstick style comedy to tragedy and back again successfully.

Has anyone watched the DVD director's comentary? Care to comment?

 

I love that movie. The costumes and everything were amazing

 

Ok, if Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and a dog is a man's best friend, what do the "Diamond Dogs" fall under?

New discussion question:

Where does the idea of "Truth" come into play in MR?

 

I think perhaps it comes into play when Satine is tired of being a courtesean because she's living a lie, and it shows up especially after she comes from the Duke to Christian (right after the tango scene) and tells him that she doesn't "want to pretend anymore."

 

I know what you mean, Obi Anne. I usually can't watch any of the movie after the Elephant Love Medley, unless I'm feeling particularly depressed.

 

I didn't see this movie in the theatre - in fact, I didn't see it until about a month ago with a couple of friends. And I have to say, I was less than impressed.

Ewan and Nicole gave splendid performances, but the overall feel of the movie was very disappointing to me. While it was artistically interesting, I didn't find it that entertaining - probably because as a writer, I avoid stereotypes and cliches, while this movie trafficked in them. However, from the standpoint of cinematography, it was spectacular.

But still, I feel like something was missing - perhaps if the storyline had been more original, I might have enjoyed it more. I don't know.

However, I do have to say that the moment they started singing "Roxanne" was one of the funniest moments in film history.

Mel

 

From a dancer's point of view, I'd have to say the movie was spectacular! I had heard that I would either love it or hate it, but I was sucked in right at the beginning! I especially loved the Roxanne part (the music gives me chills!), any of the Moulin Rouge dance scenes and the "Like a Virgin" scene. The ending play was also set up very well. Very entertaining!


*SB*

 

About rent the movie, is it true? and if so did they start production?

 

Does this movie traffic in cliches or just ackknowledge them? It's obviously a take off on a million stories that have gone before. I felt that perhaps Baz was in on this, since he gave the screwball comedy nod, the nod to Singin' in the Rain, etc.

Plus, I think there was a bit of originality. Two middle-aged men snarling through "Like a Virgin" remains fairly original, wouldn't you say?

 

Ah yes, my favorite non-Star Wars movie! Tomorrow is my "Moulin Anniversary" it's been a year since I first saw it in theatres.

Baz is a genius. There's not much more to say. Moulin Rouge could have been an awful movie, but Baz made it Spectacular. My favorite scene was also the Tango scene, scared the crap out of the first time I saw it.

Oh and about Baz and RENT. It's not true. However much I'd love him to do it (he's the only director I'd trust to make a film out of my favorite musical )I read an interview saying they asked him to do it around the time he was filming R&J. So I guess we got MR instead