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#176 - Moulin Rouge!
Baz Luhrmann, 2001
In turn-of-the-century France, a poor writer falls in love with a courtesan whose affections are intended for a wealthy noble.
I have somehow never managed to watch a Baz Luhrmann film in full before, and Moulin Rouge! seemed as good a film to pick as any. While the film is definitely full of visual zest, it does cover up one incredibly weak story that isn't even structured well. The framing story is supposed to allow our writer protagonist (Ewan MacGregor) an excuse to narrate, though it does spoil the ending of the movie for no good reason in the process. The story mixes farce with melodrama without much in the way of consistency or even evoking decent emotional responses. The comedy either trades on the vibrant weirdness of the setting or resorts to some tiresome comedies of errors that naturally tie into the love triangle between MacGregor's writer, his showgirl/courtesan love interest (Nicole Kidman) and the wealthy cad (Richard Roxburgh) whose presence causes even more complications than just that of the romantic plot. Even the dramatic elements are handled pretty poorly, with complications being provided by incredibly out-of-nowhere character development, extremely irrational decisions and, of course, the fact that the plot of the show-within-a-show reflects the film's actual events. On a musical level, the decision to use old-timey renditions of modern pop songs either comes across as inspired or obnoxious (more often the latter), and the actors' singing ability isn't strong enough to carry the bulk of the songs anyway. Fortunately, the film isn't totally terrible. The bright colour palette feels like it's straight out of old-school melodrama and looks great as a result (as does the cinematography in general), while the production design is also very exquisite. Of course, singling out the technical elements as the best part of a film often speaks to weaknesses in terms of writing and performing. Moulin Rouge! definitely has plenty of weakness in those areas and not even the zaniness or heartstring-tugging of its musical numbers can adequately compensate for that.
Baz Luhrmann, 2001
In turn-of-the-century France, a poor writer falls in love with a courtesan whose affections are intended for a wealthy noble.
I have somehow never managed to watch a Baz Luhrmann film in full before, and Moulin Rouge! seemed as good a film to pick as any. While the film is definitely full of visual zest, it does cover up one incredibly weak story that isn't even structured well. The framing story is supposed to allow our writer protagonist (Ewan MacGregor) an excuse to narrate, though it does spoil the ending of the movie for no good reason in the process. The story mixes farce with melodrama without much in the way of consistency or even evoking decent emotional responses. The comedy either trades on the vibrant weirdness of the setting or resorts to some tiresome comedies of errors that naturally tie into the love triangle between MacGregor's writer, his showgirl/courtesan love interest (Nicole Kidman) and the wealthy cad (Richard Roxburgh) whose presence causes even more complications than just that of the romantic plot. Even the dramatic elements are handled pretty poorly, with complications being provided by incredibly out-of-nowhere character development, extremely irrational decisions and, of course, the fact that the plot of the show-within-a-show reflects the film's actual events. On a musical level, the decision to use old-timey renditions of modern pop songs either comes across as inspired or obnoxious (more often the latter), and the actors' singing ability isn't strong enough to carry the bulk of the songs anyway. Fortunately, the film isn't totally terrible. The bright colour palette feels like it's straight out of old-school melodrama and looks great as a result (as does the cinematography in general), while the production design is also very exquisite. Of course, singling out the technical elements as the best part of a film often speaks to weaknesses in terms of writing and performing. Moulin Rouge! definitely has plenty of weakness in those areas and not even the zaniness or heartstring-tugging of its musical numbers can adequately compensate for that.