This article is about the 2001 motion picture. For other uses, see Moulin Rouge (disambiguation)
| Moulin Rouge (2001) | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Baz Luhrmann |
| Produced by | Baz Luhrmann Fred Baron |
| Written by | Baz Luhrmann Craig Pearce |
| Starring | Ewan McGregor Nicole Kidman Jim Broadbent Richard Roxburgh John Leguizamo |
| Music by | Craig Armstrong Marius de Vries |
| Cinematography | Donald McAlpine |
| Editing by | Jill Bilcock |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | 16 May 2001 |
| Running time | 127 min. |
| Country | Australia United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $52.5 million |
| Gross revenue | $177,000,000 |
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, based largely on the Giuseppe Verdi opera La Traviata. It tells the story of a young British poet/writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman). It uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and won two: for art direction and costume design. It was shot at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia.
In 2006, Moulin Rouge! ranked twenty-fifth on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.
Contents |
In 1899, a young British writer, Christian, moves to the Montmartre district of Paris to try to establish himself in the Bohemian culture. By luck, he encounters a musical troupe led by Toulouse-Lautrec that is attempting to present a new routine for Harold Zidler, the owner of the cabaret, the Moulin Rouge. Christian's writing helps to finalize the show, entitled "Spectacular! Spectacular!", and the troupe take Christian to the cabaret to present the work itself to its star courtesan, Satine, in her private chambers to win her favor. However, the same night, Zidler has arranged Satine to spend the night with the wealthy Duke who is looking to buy the cabaret. Through miscommunication, Satine ends up selecting Christian, and the two depart for her chambers, Satine thinking he is seeking her for carnal pleasure. However, when he begins to recite poetry and present the script, she finds that she is attracted to him as he is to her. Before the two can proceed further, the Duke and Zidler interrupt, and Satine quickly states that Christian is only there to present a play. With the help of the troupe, Satine, and Zidler, Christian quickly improvises a new plot to "Spectacular! Spectacular!" as a thinly-covered veil of their current situation, with an evil maharajah attempting to woo the love of an Indian courtesan who is actually in love with a poor sitar player. The Duke, unable to see through the show's meaning, agrees to finance the show, but only if he is allowed to see Satine.
Over the next several days, the entire Moulin Rouge troupe prepares for the show. Satine is unaware she is dying of tuberculosis but Zidler knows and keeps that information to himself. Christian and Satine attempt to evade the Duke to keep their love alive by pretending to be practicing their lines as well as the "secret song" that the sitar player and courtesan share, but the Duke insists that he can watch. On a day that the Duke has invited Satine to his place for the evening, Satine insists that she must practice her lines with Christian, and they depart. A jealous courtesan points out to the Duke that the play is obviously a metaphor for Christian, Satine, and the Duke, and the Duke takes more drastic steps to make sure that Christian and Satine are separated, demanding that Zidler let Satine spend the night with him. On that night, Satine refuses the Duke's advances and flees to Christian; the two plan to run away together. The Duke reports this to Zidler, and states that unless Satine is his, he will have Christian killed. Zidler tells this to Satine and he finally tells her that she is dying, and Satine sadly makes her way back to the loft and feigns to Christian that her love was a front, and that she really loved the Duke. Christian, crushed, walks away from the show and wallows in his loft.
On the opening night of "Spectacular! Spectacular!", Toulouse-Lautrec tries to remind Christian of the Bohemian way — truth, beauty, freedom, and love — and that he truly loves Satine as she does to him, but Christian is too depressed to listen As the show starts, Christian approaches Satine and throws money that he got from selling his typewriter, trying to buy her love just as the Duke had done, but Satine tries to send him away, warning him that the Duke's bodyguard will kill Christian. Suddenly, the two find themselves in the spotlight on stage, momentary confusing the performers and audience. Zidler quickly improvises, stating that Christian is the sitar player in disguise and tries to make the show go on, but Christian walks off stage. As he leaves down the stage, Toulouse-Lautrec shouts from the rafters "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Satine realizes what she has done and sings the "secret song", showing Christian that she truly loves him. Christian rejoins her on stage and joins her in singing the song, much to the Duke's anger. The Duke's bodyguard attempts to kill Christian, but the courtesans and Bohemians stop him; the Duke then tries to finish the job himself, only to be stopped by Zidler, who attacks so true love can prevail. The lovers are able to finish their song without incident to a standing ovation; the Duke storms away from the Moulin Rouge. As the performers get ready for taking a bow, Satine finally succumbs to her illness, and dies in Christian's arms. A year later, with the Moulin Rouge having closed down, Christian, still mournful over his loss, decides to write the story of the love shared between himself and Satine, which was her dying wish.
When asked about his inspiration for Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann remarked:
"Catherine Martin (production designer and Luhrmann's wife) and I went to India to work on "Midsummer Night's Dream." We went out one night and there was a big poster up for a Bollywood movie. I said, "Let's go see that." We did - 2,000 audience members, high comedy, high tragedy, brother kills brother, [they] break out in some musical numbers, all jumbled up together in 4 hours of Hindi. We thought that was amazing. So our question was, "Could we create a cinematic form like that? Could a musical work?" A musical must be able to work in western culture again, and could it be comic-tragic? So then began this commitment of moving toward "Moulin Rouge." I decided I'd do "Romeo + Juliet" and then a musical film."[1]
There was also a play within the film, "Spectacular Spectacular," which itself may have been based on an ancient Sanskrit play, The Little Clay Cart. In addition to the Bollywood influence, Baz Luhrmann has revealed in the DVD's voice-over commentary that he drew from the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was a musical genius far surpassing anyone in his world; the filmmakers chose to replicate this by using songs from the mid-to-late 20th century, many decades after the film's 1899 setting. In this way, Christian would appear to the other characters to be an innovative musician and writer.
Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Renée Zellweger, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sharleen Spiteri, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were all contenders for the part of Satine. Courtney Love was almost cast in the role, but lost out to Kidman at the last minute because Luhrmann felt that Love would not fit into the movie. Heath Ledger, Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Russell Crowe were all considered for the part of Christian [2]; Ewan McGregor was chosen for the role.
Production on the film began in November 1999 and was completed in May 2000, with a budget of just over $50 million. Filming generally went smoothly, with the only major problem occurring when Kidman injured her ribs while filming one of the more complicated dance sequences. The production also overran in its shooting schedule and had to be out of the Fox Studios in Sydney to make way for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (in which McGregor also starred). This necessitated some pick-up shots being filmed in Madrid.[3]
In the liner notes to the film's Special Edition DVD, Luhrmann writes that "[the] whole stylistic premise has been to decode what the Moulin Rouge was to the audiences of 1899 and express that same thrill and excitement in a way to which contemporary movie-goers can relate." With that in mind, the film takes well-known popular music, mostly drawn from the MTV Generation, and anachronizes it into a tale set in a turn-of-the-century Paris cabaret. The movie also features editing that several critics compared to a music video, involving swirling camera motion, loud music, dancing, and frenetic cutting. Some of the songs sampled include "Chamma Chamma" from the Hindi movie China Gate, Queen's "The Show Must Go On" (arranged in operatic format), David Bowie's rendition of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," "Lady Marmalade" by LaBelle (the Christina Aguilera/P!nk/Mýa/Lil’ Kim cover commissioned for the film), Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl," Elton John's "Your Song," the titular number of "The Sound of Music," "Roxanne" by The Police (in a tango format, composed by Mariano Mores), and one of the few films to use "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. The film uses so much popular music that it took Luhrmann almost two years to secure all the rights to the songs.
Originally set for release on December 25, 2000 as a high profile Oscar contender, 20th Century Fox eventually moved the release to the following spring so director Baz Luhrmann would have more time during post production. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 9, 2001—making it the festival's opening title. A limited release on May 18, 2001 in the United States followed, and the film was released to theaters across the United States on June 1, 2001.
The film was an instant success in limited release, grossing $185,095 in only two theaters on opening weekend. Representatives from the studio said that many audiences even burst into applause during the screenings. The numbers continued to increase over the Memorial Day weekend, with the film making $254,098. When it expanded into over 2500 theaters, it made $14.2 million in its first weekend of wide release. The film eventually grossed over $57 million in the United States. It had a brief re-release in October 2001 for Oscar consideration, with Luhrmann stating that his intent was to get Kidman and McGregor nominated.
The movie was even more successful internationally. It broke box office records in Australia where it was given a rare theatrical re-release at the end of 2001, and found a stable audience in almost every country. It eventually made over $120 million internationally, resulting in over $177 million worldwide.
The critical and financial success of the film renewed interest in the then-moribund musical genre, and subsequently films such as Chicago, The Producers, Rent, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Across the Universe, The Phantom of the Opera, Enchanted, and Mamma Mia! were produced, fueling a renaissance of the genre.
| Academy Awards record | |
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| 1. Best Costume Design | |
| 2. Best Art Direction-Set Decoration | |
| Golden Globe Awards record | |
| 1. Best Picture - Musical or Comedy | |
| 2. Best Actress - Musical or Comedy (Nicole Kidman) |
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| 3. Best Original Score | |
| BAFTA Awards record | |
| 1. Best Supporting Actor (Jim Broadbent) |
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| 2. Best Film Music (Craig Armstrong) |
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| 3. Best Sound | |
The film was selected by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2001 over many other contenders. After that, it picked up six Golden Globe nominations including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Nicole Kidman), Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Ewan McGregor), Best Original Score (for Craig Armstrong), Best Director (for Baz Luhrmann) and Best Song ("Come What May"). It won three including the coveted Best Picture trophy. A few weeks later, it received 13 nominations at the BAFTA Awards, making it the most nominated film of the year for that ceremony. It took home three, including Best Supporting Actor for Jim Broadbent.
When Oscar nominations were announced, the film received eight nominations including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Nicole Kidman) and Best Picture. The film was not nominated for Best Director (Baz Luhrmann); commenting on this during the Oscar ceremony, host Whoopi Goldberg remarked, "I guess Moulin Rouge! just directed itself." It took home two Oscars when the winners were announced for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction; subsequently many proprietors of the film claimed that it had been unjustly snubbed at the Academy Awards.
It should be noted that "Come What May" (the only original song in the film) was disqualified from nomination for an Oscar because it was originally written (but unused) for Luhrmann's previous film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and not written expressly for Moulin Rouge![4]
American Film Institute recognition
Songs sung in the Film:
The following is a partial list of songs featured in the film along with the artist that popularized them.
Elephant Love Medley
Two soundtrack albums were released, with the second coming after the first one's massive success. The first volume featured the smash hit single "Lady Marmalade", performed by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and P!nk. The first soundtrack, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, was released in May 2001, with the second Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, Vol. 2 following in 2002.
Award wins:
Award nominations:
For a while in 2002/3, there was vast speculation on the possibility of a stage musical based on Moulin Rouge!, possibly in Vegas, but there have been no public talks in the years since.[5] Some sources claimed in 2006 that the director, Baz Luhrmann, had approached the leads of the film (Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor) to star in the potential stage version.[6]
| Preceded by Almost Famous |
Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy 2001 |
Succeeded by Chicago |
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