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Some movies just naturally seem to inspire very strong, polarizing reactions, destined to be either loved or hated by those who see them. I think it's safe to say that Moulin Rouge is one such movie. One either buys into its story as well as the method it's chosen to tell it, or one decides it's pretentious, overwrought tripe and dismisses it with a sneer and a shrug. I'll just dispell the suspense and make it clear that I'm in the first camp. Moulin Rouge has flaws, but in the end it just has too much magic, and I'm far too susceptible to the spell it weaves. So it uses any number of pop songs anachronistically to tell its story? So what. I've listened to the soundtrack umpteen times, and although I don't love every single song (I could do without hearing that damn "Lady Marmalade" cover one more time, for one), I love the concept and the cleverness it consistently displays (and the "Like a Virgin" number--not on the official soundtrack--was sheer inspired lunacy). Hearing "Hindi Sad Diamonds" makes me want to get up and boogie every time, and "Come What May" is a sweet, sappy, beautiful love duet. "I believe in Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and above all things... Love." Yeah.
The tale: fin de siecle Paris, the Montmartre district, and the Bohemian movement is in full swing. Christian, idealistic, penniless writer, arrives to be a part of it all. As he settles in to his apartment, a narcoleptic Argentinian falls through his roof, and before he knows it, he's wandered into a job writing the new play they're looking to stage at the local dancehall, the Moulin Rouge. By fortuitous circumstance, he meets the star of the dancehall--also an aspiring actress--Satine. Of course they must fall in love. Of course it must come to a tragic end. Of course there will be much singing and dancing between here and there; this is a musical! I particularly liked the moon (yes, as in up in the sky) singing opera. Over the top? Silly child, there is no top in this movie. It's all fair game.
Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman do a wonderful job as the two leads--they somehow manage to sell this whole silly, sappy, sad story without a touch of irony. Almost as amazing, they do their own singing, and perform quite credibly. It's fun, it's funny, it's sweet, it's sad. Why resist it? "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love... and be loved in return." That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.
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