Moulin Rouge

2001 Musical

The third film from pop-music-obsessed director Baz Luhrmann tweaks the conventions of the musical genre by mixing a period romance with anachronistic dialogue and songs in the style of his previous Romeo+Juliet (1996). Ewan McGregor stars as Christian, who leaves behind his bourgeois father during the French belle époque of the late 1890s to seek his fortunes in the bohemian underworld of Montmartre, Paris. Christian meets the absinthe- and alcohol-addicted artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), who introduces him to a world of sex, drugs, music, theater, and the scandalous dance known as the cancan, all at the Moulin Rouge, a decadent dance hall, brothel, and theater that's the brainchild of Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent). Christian also meets and falls into a tragically doomed romance with the courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman), who becomes the star of the play he's writing, which parallels the couple's romance and utilizes rock music from a century later, including songs by Nirvana, Madonna, the Beatles, and Queen, among others. Loosely based on the opera +Orpheus in the Underworld, Moulin Rouge was shown in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. more..

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent,Richard Roxburgh

Reviews

  • It's a wonderful postmodern hug of a movie, and never once do you not know you're watching a movie.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • The movie is all color and music, sound and motion, kinetic energy, broad strokes, operatic excess.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • A movie so cheeky, aggressive and bursting with vitality that it can't help being annoying and exhilarating at the same time.

    Edward Guthmann - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • You can go with it or resist it, be exhilarated or worn out. But forgetting the experience is not one of your options.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • The grand becomes grandiose and the lyrical turns bombastic.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Composer of the Year

    AFI Awards (2002)

  • Outstanding Song in a Motion Picture Soundtrack

    ALMA Awards (2002)

  • Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (2002)

  • Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

    Academy Awards (2002)

  • Best Costumes

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2002)