Mum's Monday: Moulin Rouge (2001)

WARNING SPOILERS

This iconic film musical is set around a nightclub come theatre, with the world renowned symbol of the windmill in 1899/1900. It starts when it is 1900 and we see the film’s story starting in 1899. This is very well done as a flashback.

The film captures the artistic temperament, like the diva type bickering between the female dancers/performers.

It is clever how they incorporate song lyrics as the script, it really works, proving this is indeed a musical whether there is music or not, or if the actors are singing or not as well.

The soundtrack is well done and modern for the era. It fits if a little busy and sometimes full on.

Some of the camera work is a bit blurry, but because of the quickness of the scene changes, I don’t think this can be helped and it also adds to the smoothness in the flow of the film.

The film gets a bit silly during the poetry reading, but quickly becomes beautiful, with Christian (Ewan McGregor) sings Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ to Satine (Nicole Kidman)

There are some scenes that are so quick and busy, you have to really watch carefully to keep up with what is going on.

The film has a dark side with Satine being ill and also cannot be seen with Christian by The Duke (Richard Roxburgh). The Deeds of the Moulin Rouge is at stake.

In this film there is a strange mix of unlikely characters singing what can be seen as out of character songs, like when Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent) sings the Madonna song ‘Like a Virgin’, but it works for what the film is trying to get across in the storyline.

When the film takes a dramatic turn, with the music, the effect is brilliant. Satine learns the truth, it is sad to see, but it is in keeping with the situation in the film.

At one point I thought ‘surely The Duke must now have seen enough to accept Satine loves Christian’, but no this is not the case, however, the show still went on as planned, with a slight diversion. The curtain falls and Christian soon learns, he must go on without Satine, with so much to give in the form of the story about love.

If you get a chance to go to Paris, you can visit the Moulin Rouge it is situated in the Montmartre, (which is mentioned in the film) in the north of the city. It is on the corner of the Boulevard de Clichy and Rue Lepic. One way you can get to it is using the Metro on Line 2 and getting off at Blanche. Walking up the steps at the exit, you can’t miss it. The Moulin Rouge.