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Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, which tells the story of a young British poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge cabaret, Satine. It uses the colourful musical setting of Montmartre, a district in Paris, France. Some plot details, specifically the poor artist and his dying lover, bear relation to the opera La Bohème (which Baz Luhrmann has also directed several times), including references to the "Bohemian" subculture. The plot was also inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus in the Underworld. The screenplay was written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce.
Description
Moulin Rouge! has a storyline and structure that is said to be inspired and influenced by Bollywood movies: exuberant music, colourful visuals, elaborate sets and costumes, simple story line with a simple conflict, heroine with melodramatic disease, two-dimensional characters, and the songs themselves, adopted from contemporary musicians. It includes a popular Hindi movie song near the end. Other songs it samples include Nature Boy by Nat King Cole, Lady Marmalade by LaBelle (the Christina Aguilera et al cover having been commissioned for this film), Madonna's Material Girl, the titular song of The Sound of Music, and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana--all within the film's first twenty minutes. The film uses so much popular music that it took Baz Lurhmann two years to secure all the rights to the songs.
The film takes established rock music songs and modifies them to fit into a tale of a turn-of-the-20th-century Paris cabaret, blending swirling camera motion, loud music, and dancing to powerful effect. However, it depends heavily on suspension of disbelief and must be approached on its own terms.
 The Moulin Rouge on Boulevard de Clichy (Paris, France) The theme of the movie is love. The main character (Ewan McGregor) is a writer who comes to Paris at the height of the Bohemian movement—a city of artists, parties, and absinthe. He falls in love with the main singer of the Moulin Rouge cabaret (Nicole Kidman), who unknowingly suffers from a terminal case of tuberculosis, and the rest of the movie follows their relationship (with plenty of songs in between), ending with her death.
Six other movies with the title "Moulin Rouge" have been made.
Cast and Academy Awards
The film stars Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh. The movie was written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, directed by Lurhmann, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Moulin Rouge! won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Nicole Kidman), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Picture and Best Sound.
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor do their own singing.
The necklace worn by Nicole Kidman was made of 1,308 real diamonds and platinum. It was worth an estimated $1 million.
Quotations
- "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."
(an example of the singing dialogue, this line comes from the song "Nature Boy", made famous by Nat King Cole)
- "You expect me to believe that scantily clad, in the arms of another man, in the middle of the night, inside an elephant you were rehearsing for a play?"
- "Hold on to your hat"
- "Thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love!"
- "Above all things I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendoured thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!
- "You're going to be bad for business. I can tell"
- "Come what may, I will love you, 'til my dying day."
- "Outside it may be raining, but inside it's entertaining!"
'Chanel' 4
On the 20th of November, 2004, Channel 4 of the UK broadcast Moulin Rouge! at 9pm, the premiere on British terrestrial television. During the commercial break at 9:20pm, Chanel premiered their Moulin Rouge!-inspired advert for their signature Chanel No.5 fragrance starring Nicole Kidman, and directed by Baz Lurhmann.
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