A dazzling and yet frequently maddening bid to bring the movie musical kicking and screaming into the 21st century, Baz Luhrmann'sMoulin Rouge bears no relation to the many previous films set in the famous Parisian nightclub. This may appear to be Paris in the 1890s, with can-can dancers, bohemian denizens like Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and ribaldry at every turn, but it's really Luhrmann's pop-cultural wonderland. Everyone and everything is encouraged to shatter boundaries of time and texture, colliding and careening in a fast-cutting frenzy that thinks nothing of casting Elton John's "Your Song" 80 years before its time. Nothing is original in this kaleidoscopic, absinthe-inspired love tragedy--the words, the music, it's all been heard before. But when filtered through Luhrmann's love for pop songs and timeless showmanship, you're reminded of the cinema's power to renew itself while paying homage to its past.
Luhrmann's overall success with his third "red-curtain" extravaganza (followingStrictly Ballroom andWilliam Shakespeare's Romeo&Juliet) is wildly debatable: the scenario is simple to the point of silliness, and how can you appreciate choreography when it's been diced into hash by attention-deficit editing? Still, there's something genuine brewing between costars Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (as, respectively, a poor writer and his unobtainable object of desire), and their vocal talents are impressive enough to match Luhrmann's orgy of extraordinary sets, costumes, and digital wizardry. The movie's novelty may wear thin, along with its shallow indulgence of a marketable soundtrack, but Luhrmann's inventiveness yields moments that border on ecstasy, when sound and vision point the way to a moribund genre's joyously welcomed revival.--Jeff Shannon
I need resolution I went to see my guru's astrologer yesterday and she said that there is a big energy field that includes me and many other people. I have to come to resolution with my own Christian. He lives in Boston and I am in Connecticut. If he can hear me sing, his love will be mine. My astrologer said that there are others I need to confront but that if my love is true I win. That is the best news I have heard in years. I have loved this movie ever since I read my own Christian's reviews. He started a craze all over the country.JUST GORGEOUS I just happened to catch a peek of this movie again the other day. It is just magnificent but I don't know why Ewan can't hear my heart SINGING FOR HIM. Ewan, please sing to me.A Beautiful Movie! This movie is about truth, beauty, freedom and lots of love. Gay men especially will understand. Watch this movie and make sure to see it with your special someone..I used to sing for a living and I can tell you that Ewan and Nicole can sing. Ewan is especially lovely.
