Luke
stu-kicks
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoMoulin Rouge
January 2nd 2007 06:40
I used to hate musicals. Mostly. So when I watched this at the time of it’s release I really expect to like it. From the moment ‘Moulin Rouge’ started though I had a hard time not liking it.
Firstly, the film oozes style. This is easily Baz Lurhmann's most impressive film to date, every single shot and piece is beautifully constructed - the settings are awash with surreal colours, silhouettes bounce along like etheral shadow-puppets, and the way characters move from one location to another is nothing short of dizzying.
Secondly, the characters are those wonderfully overdone near-pantomine types that I always forget are what make the theatre and musicals so entertaining. The plot isn't very complicated, and the story concerns itself with love. Not the sappy preppy 'love' that Hollywood often shits out, but the grandest concept of 'love' as espoused by Shakespeare (and French Bohemians).
The third and most extraordinary facet of this unique film is the music itself. The main reason I used to find myself detesting musicals is because there were always dud songs among the bunch (that's if all the songs aren't duds to begin with). 'Moulin Rouge' sidesteps this problem by taking the best bits of popular music from this century and mixing them all up for it's own ends. It would spoil the film to tell you what songs turn up and where, but rest assured - they work, and it's great.
I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and watched this movie. I'm amazed it didn't gain the sort of critical acclaim ‘Chicago’ did (a musical film I found rather boring). ‘Moulin Rouge’ is a unique and dazzling experience that I've seldom seen in film before. Even if you're not a fan of the genre of musicals (like I was), rest assured - you aint seen nothing yet.
HIGHLIGHTS: I love that fact that all the actors get to keep their accents. Australian, English, Spanish, American - it's all in there, and it makes for a wonderfully cosmopolitan fill. The main highlights are, obviously, the musical numbers, some of which are hilarious.
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Comment by Lily
Ars Poetica
This is one of my all time favourite movies... tragedy and love entertwined with humour, sensuality and suspense. You are so right, the soundtrack is fantastic, not one song to 'sit' through. I've seen this movie dozens of times and i most often won't watch the same movie twice. So there ya go...
~Lily
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I really enjoyed the John Huston Moulin Rouge original but this remake was revolting.
Horrible covers of once great music, lead actors who cant carry a tune and atrocious hatchet job editing. A script so dull that it sounds liek a kleenex commercial.
I dont mind a good musical but I find very little redeemable value in this film.
It is amazing how in synch and similar our tastes can be sometimes Luke. Great there are still some films we dont agree on. It is going to be a good year.
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
It dragged on after that, I thought, and the songs were less thrilling.
Unlike John, I liked how unprofessional the lead singers were. Very human-sounding...
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
If I had to say a positive it is thatteh film looked pretty, though even that wore thin for me.
Sorry dude, but i do know there are plenty of other people who love this film, so I am probably in the minority.
Im more of an All That Jazz kinda guy when it comes to musicals of this type.