Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Film: Moulin Rouge!

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Country: Australia

Released: May 2001

Runtime: 123 minutes

Genre: Musical

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Influenced: Rob Marshall, Gurinder Chadha, Tom Hooper, Matthew Vaughn, Michael Gracey

To be honest, Moulin Rouge! nearly didn't make the cut. I recently rewatched it, as I do with all the films included here, and it's fair to say it didn't reveal any hidden depths on a follow-up viewing. That said, the movie remains highly entertaining and deserves inclusion for its daring approach to the musical film genre – essentially, it pioneered a whole new subgenre of jukebox musicals. The film weaves contemporary pop songs and stage tunes into the narrative, rather than an original score, marking a departure from the approach of traditional musicals. Baz Luhrmann, the director and co-writer of the film, had a vision of creating a modern, frenetic and highly stylised musical that would be a cinematic spectacle. Luhrmann took the postmodern approach of combining an historical Parisian setting with modern songs from the likes of David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Nirvana, Elton John, Missy Elliott, Sting and T-Rex. Particularly innovative musical mash-ups in Moulin Rouge! include the segue from Lady Marmalade to Smells Like Teen Spirit, and the combination of Argentinian tango and Sting's Roxanne. 

As well as the music, another innovative feature of the film is the costume and set design. Luhrmann enlisted the help of his wife, Catherine Martin, to design the elaborate and opulent costumes and sets that would bring the vibrant world of the Moulin Rouge to life. The film is set in the Bohemian Montmartre district of Paris in 1899 and follows the story of Christian (Ewan McGregor), a young poet who becomes infatuated with Satine (Nicole Kidman), the star of the Moulin Rouge cabaret. Satine is also the object of desire for a wealthy and jealous Duke (Richard Roxburgh), who makes a deal with the owner of Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), an exchange of finance for love. At one point, Zidler calls Satine his "little sparrow", a clear reference to legendary Parisian singer, Édith Piaf. As an aside, Piaf made a cameo in Jean Renoir's 1955 film about the Moulin Rouge, French Cancan, which has an incredible final dancing sequence that was an obvious inspiration for Luhrmann. 

The Elephant Love Medley is one of Moulin Rouge!'s most memorable musical sequences, in which Christian and Satine express their love for each other through a medley of pop songs. McGregor performed all of his character's songs in the film, however Kidman's singing voice was dubbed by Jodi Benson for some songs. The actors had to take physical risks too, with Kidman breaking two ribs and injuring her knee during filming, but she continued to soldier on. McGregor and Kidman have a genuine on-screen chemistry, though the sheer volume of cliché, double entendre and comic misunderstanding that the audience has to stomach during their initial scene together is a little painful. The plot is structured around the production of a play that Christian writes, and it becomes a metatextual commentary on the events of the film. This play-within-a-play features Christian's bohemian friends, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and together they drink absinthe, hallucinate about green fairies in the shape of Kylie Minogue and sing the theme tune to The Sound of Music. 

Moulin Rouge! received critical acclaim and was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and won two for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The film's budget was approximately $52mn, and it was considered a risky venture owing to its unconventional approach to the musical genre, but the investment paid off for the producers. As well as a Best Actress nomination for Kidman, the film also received numerous other awards and nominations for its direction, design and music. That closing scene, when the Moulin Rouge is transformed into a lush and surreal Indian-themed stage, complete with opulent sets, vivid colours and extravagant Maharaj costumes, is nothing short of stunning. The plot is a bit naff and the second half of the film does descend into bland melodrama, but I think Luhrmann takes this narrative approach in a knowing, postmodern way. The director's signature hyperkinetic editing style would be used to varying effect on later films, including flops like Australia (2008) and hits like Elvis (2022), but nobody could ever accuse Luhrmann's films of being boring.