Moulin Rouge!

There used to be a genre called “musicals.” People would actually burst out in song whenever the mood hit them (and it did more often than was often necessary). Now, I know that sounds totally unbelievable, especially when you consider how fucking popular those kinds of movies were. There were, for a period of about 30 years, musicals being churned out by the dozens by the big studios. Especially MGM. Somewhere around the mid-60s, after big musicals like My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music taking Best Picture awards at the Oscars in 1964 and 1965, respectively, the genre died out almost completely. The last of the big-budget studio musicals were probably 1967′s Camelot and 1969′s Hello, Dolly. While they’re not the best, they serve as a swan song for one of the most popular genres this side of the Western.

Oh sure, there were small resurgences (Grease in 1978, Little Shop Of Horrors in 1986), but things were looking pretty desperate for the musical. Even the longest running off-Broadway musical of all time (The Fantasticks) had a lot of trouble being filmed. (It was filmed in 1995, but not released until 2000–even with a New Kid in the lead role! Well, maybe that’s a reason to keep it shelved all those years. But why cut it?)

The only studio that ever really succeeded with musicals on a regular basis was Disney, and that was only because they were animated and were seen as kids’ movies.

And then there were the rock movies that always did well, like A Hard Day’s Night, Jailhouse Rock or KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park. But, overall, the traditional musical just kind of died out.

Then a strange thing happened. People started to buy tickets to Broadway musicals! Classics like Guys And Dolls and new shows like The Producers started to be the talk of the town. How did this happen?

Now was the perfect time to resurrect the musical film. And Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom) saw his chance. He had always wanted to bring the musical back, so why not strike when the iron is luke warm.

And boy did he ever strike! With a great and willing cast, a great selection of classic rock songs, a simple story and some of the most imaginative sets and costumes I’ve seen in a long time, he struck with a vengeance.

Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a penniless writer who just wants to SING!, er, write. He desperately wants to be a bohemian, but he doesn’t really know how to become one. So, leaving his English home, he goes to Paris to find himself. Instead, he finds Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo made to be even shorter than he actually is) and his merry band of mirth-makers. They take him on an adventure to the Moulin Rouge, the premiere night club/bordello/theatre of late 19th Century Paris.

Then something amazing happens. He meets Satine (Nicole Kidman), the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge. She’s actually supposed to seduce The Duke (Richard Roxburgh from Mission: Impossible 2), a man who could possibly finance a real play for the Moulin Rouge’s owner, Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent from Bridget Jones’ Diary, Topsy-Turvy and Little Voice) and turn it into a real theatre…and make Satine a star.

But there are a few problems (of course…without one there wouldn’t be a movie, right?). First off, Satine thinks that Christian is The Duke and accidentally falls in love with him (a big no-no in the courtesan world). Second, Christian, who is eventually commissioned to write the play, doesn’t have anything written. In order to cover up his affair with Satine he comes up with the story of a penniless sitar player in India who falls in love with a courtesan. But the evil sultan wants her for himself, so they have to hide their love. But the sitar player’s sitar can only speak the truth and give the whole thing away.

Yeah, so that’s the basic story. Not a whole lot there, but it’s just enough to make this a film to remember. And, besides, how much story does a true musical need? Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. There are problems. Things work out.

But Baz puts a different spin on things. Right up front we know that Satine is dead by the end of the story. And Christian is, of course, distraught. He’s writing the story of their love as (I guess) a novel. So there’s a feeling of dread all through the movie, no matter how light the tone is. (And it gets VERY light at times.)

This isn’t really a movie you watch. It’s one you experience. You go to the theatre or pop it in your DVD player (don’t watch this one unless it’s widescreened. You’ll miss too much.) and just get swept away by the overpowering nature of the whole thing. Even if you don’t like musicals I think it will still amaze you.

The acting is pretty uniformly great with Nicole being the natural standout. She’s just a very beautiful woman. (Even when she looks like she’s just come from the set of The Others.) Anytime she’s onscreen it’s hard to take your eyes off of her. She just draws all attention to herself. And, in this case, that’s a great thing. That’s what she’s supposed to be doing. Much better than her ex has ever done.

Ewan is equally good as the sad-sack lover of love who doesn’t really know what love is. Broadbent was great as the over-the-top owner/father figure. Leguizamo was, well, Leguizamo as a very diminutive center of artistic attention. And Roxburgh was pretty good (if a bit too Max Shreck-like) as the bad guy. He just reminded me of the villains in the old silent films who used to put damsels in distress when he tied them to railroad tracks. But I guess it fit with the rest of the movie.

And, surprisingly, all of them can sing! I had heard that Ewan’s was the best (and it probably is), but Nicole’s was also very good. She does a pretty great impression of Marilyn Monroe on the Diamonds Medley (which includes, of course, “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” and “Material Girl”). The rest of the time she just sounded like a girl in love.

And speaking of music, the choice of music was perfect. “Like A Virgin,” “Children Of The Revolution” (sung by Bono!), “The Sound Of Music” (in a great homage to the classics), “Roxanne”…all of them were set perfectly to images that are pretty unforgettable. But best of all there was “Your Song.” Elton John’s best ballad is put to great use as the love theme and Ewan’s performance may not be better than Elton’s (how could it be?), but it’s almost more passionate. He’s feeling every word. And the only original song, “Come What May,” was also very good. But it’s better in the movie than it is as a single. Too hip-hoppy.

My favorite, though, has to be the “Elephant Love Medley.” It’s just fun to pick out the songs as they go by. And it’s amazing how the songs just blend together as one. Who would have thought that Phil Collins and U2 could sit together harmoniously?

But I guess the real star here is ol’ Baz himself. His vision of a modern musical is so amazing that it’s hard to see anybody else’s after it. It’s cartoonish, garish and beautiful all at the same time. The sets, costumes…everything. There’s not one bit of this film that isn’t saturated in color and flash (just like the old days, but with a more up to date feel, of course) and, for some reason, it works really well.

A friend of mine told me that this movie was made for me. It’s got plenty of pop culture/music references, it’s got a “love conquers (almost) all” theme and it’s got Nicole Kidman in it. Well, in that case, it’s made for all of us. Because isn’t this what love is all about? Singing in your heart, confusing feelings, everything is more beautiful than it really should be, doing things you normally wouldn’t do…

But then there’s all that death and “Lady Marmalade.” (I hate that bitch.)

Like Romeo + Juliet, the first few minutes are a little bit off-putting, but soon enough you get into it and almost become one with the film.

I may have a hard time deciding which film I actually think is the best of last year, this or Lord Of The Rings. Weird.