Moulin Rouge! — teenager views classics
The funniest tragedy you’ll ever see
Moulin Rouge! came to me as a low quality plane movie with Korean subtitles, yet I still fell in love. Having seen the movie three times since, I can safely say that this ridiculous classic is definitely worth your while. After a long summer of seeing movies and not writing, this is the only film I want to write about.
A young innocent writer (Ewan McGregor) moves to Paris in the hopes of unlocking his creativity and becoming part of the bohemian revolution. Needless to say he succeeds. The moment he arrives the most ridiculous adventure ensues, one that quite literally drives him in the arms of Satine (Nicole Kidman), star of the Moulin Rouge. What happens next can only be described as the funniest tragedy you’ll ever see. Baz Lurhmann tells a sincere, heartbreaking love story in the most ridiculous and over-the-top setting where nothing could possibly seem sincere.
To start with the setting, Luhrmann creates a world where things don’t have to make sense. A world where you can hang off the Eiffel tower like it’s the streetlamp from “Singin’ In The Rain”, and where an unconscious Argentinean can fall through your roof and it results in you getting a job. This combined with the fast pacing, the cartoon-ish visuals, and whatever 2001’s version of dubstep is, creates an incoherent, chaotic, but above all genius spectacle that embodies the ideals of the bohemian revolution. And what’s best is the unapologeticness of it all. The story doesn’t need to explain why the moon has a mustache, that’s the whole point of it!
Yet amidst this bizarre display you will surprisingly be moved to tears by the most romantic tragedy. While your brain is still processing the genius confusion created by the abstract setting, your heart is being swept along in an epic love story so simple it must be true. As the story of courtesan and the penniless writer progresses you’ll come to understand the simplicity of the word love and all it represents. You’ll come to know the definition of true love, and you’ll come to long for it with every fiber of your being.
This heartfelt story and this crowded setting not only live harmoniously but raise each other up thanks to two essential elements. Great writing and stellar performances. “Moulin Rouge!” would not have been “Moulin Rouge!” without Ewan McGregor’s sincere innocence or without Nicole Kidman’s impressive determination. But it would not have been “Moulin Rouge!” either without its hilarious rendition of Britney Spears’ “Like A Virgin”.
Not only was it genius to combine the serious with the hilarious, but it was necessary in order to do justice to the bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom, and love (which the movie ever so subtly refers to). “Moulin Rouge!” is both an ode to, as well as a reflection of, the bohemian lifestyle. And what an extraordinary lifestyle it is.
