What A Performance (Moulin Rouge! (DVD))

Member Name: The Solid Grey

Product:	Moulin Rouge! (DVD)
Date:	07/03/03 (325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An extremely entertaining film

Disadvantages: Not to everyone?s tastes

Dazzling, Stunning, Astoundingly Good, Spot The Songs, Spectacular, Unforgettable, Damn Good, Stone The Crows, Brilliant......

These are some of the things I came out with to describe, and to use as a title for my opinion of Moulin Rouge, though I read a couple of opinions about the film, I just wasn?t expecting what I saw, but as you may guess I found it to be superb.

~~The Facts~~
In this musical/comedy/tragedy, set in and around the Moulin Rouge night club in the 1900?s, Christian tells his story about coming to Paris, to the bohemian lifestyle, to become a writer and write about love that he?s never experienced. He soon gets involved with a bunch of actors who want Satine, a courtesan and the star attraction of the Moulin Rouge, to star in it, Satine herself wants be an actress and she and Christian become involved, however The Duke is investing the money and he to wants Satine.

Staring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Jim Broadbent, it was directed by Baz Luhrmann, rated 12, (15 for DVD), and runs for 122 minutes.

~~The Film~~
To give you an idea of what this film is like then the best way to describe it is a mixture of, The Adventures Of Baron Munchasaun, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Shakespeare In Love, for it contains elements of each of these films, not that I realised this when I bought the DVD, and its certainly not a complaint.

If you haven?t seen this film then you really won?t expect what you see, I wasn?t quite sure what it was going to be like and was surprised. In the first few minutes the film very much rushes through the plot, so much so that you hardly have time to keep up, the comedy is evident early on, as is the tragic nature of the film and of course the music.

~~The Music~~
The music in Moulin Rouge, isn?t typical of musicals, you expect like in Grease for example, for the action to happen then a song, more action, another song and so on. In this film, mu
sic is the medium of telling the story, although they do do songs, they also use song lyrics to tell the story, almost as a script.

Suddenly hearing Christian sing ?The hills are alive with the sound of music?, is quite a shock, but it sets the level for the film. They continue the trend by singing songs or lyrics by David Bowie, The Police, The Beatles, Queen, Madonna, Elton John..... in fact, the more I think about it, the more I think of. You?d be forgiven for thinking that the songs would seem out of place but the way they are performed is wonderful, sometimes there used for comedic purposes and sometimes for tragic reasons, but it works extraordinary well. The music and words are used to sum up the feelings and mood of the characters, not because they?re trendy songs or great classics, but simple because they fit the situation.

~~The Acting~~
I never really got to know Nicole Kidman well, and Ewan McGregor -well I have the feeling that I should be proud of him, being British and all, but both he and Nicole Kidman never seemed, to me, to have that blockbuster pull. Nicole Kidman I haven?t seen much of, I thought she a gave a good performance in Far and Away but that?s all I can say about her. Ewan McGregor I thought was great in both Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, but didn?t impress me much in Star Wars, as for Moulin Rouge though, I felt he didn?t quite fit, something wasn?t quite right in some very tiny way, but its only a very minor niggle.

Despite saying that I have to admit that the acting was superb, the singing was done by the actors - sometimes live, and I really have to give them full credit for it, they have done a great job. They brought the characters to life tremendously well, and they were a pleasure to watch.

Jim Broadbent I?ve known for a while, mostly I remember him in Blackadder?s Christmas Carol. I never thought much of him to be honest - not well know for great acting, here though, again, I take my
hat off to him (if I wore one, that is), he does a truly wonderful performance, and I?m really proud of him (not wanting to sound to pompous and all).

As for the rest of the cast, again its well done, all the cast portrayed their respective characters well and there is nothing I can think of to fault them on. The dancers?, what can I say, wonderful, I?ve always liked the Can-Can and well staged dances, its a treat to watch.

~~Direction~~
Baz Luhrmann not only directed the film, but also co wrote and co produced it, so you really have him to either thank or hate for the end result, for me, thank, is most appropriate.

I?ve seen Strictly Ballroom which he also directed, but still, seeing it wouldn?t prepare you for this. As I said, at the start it races ahead, and cuts form scene to scene very fast and leaves you needing to catch up with the plot, watching the beginning I had doubts about what I?d bought, but the style does settle down a bit.

I had the feeling that the film had a very British feel, but perhaps that should be, not so much an American feel, as it was made in Australia, Nicole Kidman, and Baz Luhrmann both Australian, most of the crew were Australian, so whatever the feel, its a good one

I can?t help thinking it was very brave on Baz Luhrmann?s part to make a musical, it seems to me that musicals are either big hits or not well received, making a comedy musical, including tragedy and pop songs, must of been very worrying for the film studio, but it works well. The direction is sometimes odd, for want of a better word, its a work of art as much as anything and you have to appreciate this element to enjoy the film, if you have no time for art, and prefer things straight forward then this film isn?t for you.

~~Generally Speaking~~
This film has a lot in it, its funny, dark, raunchy, romantic, tragic. Its about life, growing up, truth, and about love conquering all, which is no bad thing.


It looks good, the sets the costumes, the camera work. Its presented well, and has many great moments. The period feel is kept well, the only out of period pieces is the songs, its very much a self contained film, as there are few sets and was filmed entirely in the studio.

One of the best parts of the film for me, and most funniest is when the Duke catches Satine with Christian, shortly after meeting, they say they are rehearsing the play and suddenly all the other actors appear, the duke asks what the play is about and they all start singing and dancing about. It hard to describe, but its something I haven?t seen in a long time, well not in a modern film anyway, it more the kind of thing you?d see in an older musical comedies. If you only see one part of the film the see this.

~~DVD Extras (Region 2)~~
Extra?s a plenty on this two disc set, in fact over 6 hours worth, as the sticker of the cover states, along with the usual, including two commentary?s, you have,

A Making Of - A nice insight into the making of the film, though you get them with a lot of DVD films now, its always nice to see more on a film you really enjoyed.

Interviews With The Stars and Makers- Also nice to watch, its nice to know how the stars felt about the film, why they did it and such. Also you get to see the director, writer and producer talking, again its great to see why they made the film in the way they did, what led them to do such and such, its all great and enhances the whole film experience.

Abandoned Scenes and Full Dance Sequences - like in most films you have deleted and shortened scenes, cut for different reasons, and Moulin Rouge is no different. Though you don?t get much in the way of great pieces cut out, you do get to see a little more - a nice touch. The full dance sequences are nice to watch, in the film they cut to the actors, because of the plot - afterall its a film their making, so if you like the dancing then this is gre
at to have, and an added feature is that some of the dances have the multi angle feature, this is great too.

Also - Music video, and live music video, galleries, hidden extra?s, marketing, various other extra bits and pieces, I?m really skimming the surface, but they are great to see, if only if you have an interest in film making. Also there are 8 segments, that you can choose to have branched into the film, to see behind the curtains stuff, another great
addition to the experience.

All in all pretty not bad, it took us a while to plod through them all, but I didn?t mind at all. A lot of the extra stuff is introduced by the director, so you know what your seeing. So if you like the film then the extras will really be worth paying the extra few pounds for the DVD.

~~To Conclude~~
I can?t remember why I wanted to see this film, perhaps because there was so much talk about it, perhaps because there were no DVD?s that I wanted, but probably because of the song that was released as a single from the film, I loved it, ?Lady Marmalade?, especially the video (very erotic), which I caught the occasional glimpse of. I think, besides the opinions I read, generally I heard it was good.

After seeing it once, all I want to do is see it again, its fabulous, the music is astounding well done, its a cut above the usual run of the mill film, but you?ve defiantly have to have patience and like things that are artistic.

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You?ll like this if,
You like romance, musicals, pop music, comedies, an artistic approach to directing, something a bit difference, an involving story, something that needs thought and appreciation.

You won?t like this if,
You don?t like the above, an alternative approach to directing, some fast moving moments, things that aren?t entirely clear, if you don?t have patience, you want a film to watch for pure entertainment only.

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Its a wonderfu
l production, but not for everyone, you?ll probably love it or hate it.

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