Moulin Rouge! (2001)

A poet falls for a beautiful courtesan whom a jealous duke covets in this stylish musical, with music drawn from familiar 20th century sources.

Director:

Baz Luhrmann

Writers:

Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

Stars:

Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo

Won 2 Oscars. Another 74 wins & 82 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicole Kidman	...	Satine
Ewan McGregor	...	Christian
John Leguizamo	...	Toulouse-Lautrec
Jim Broadbent	...	Harold Zidler
Richard Roxburgh	...	The Duke
Garry McDonald	...	The Doctor
Jacek Koman	...	The Unconscious Argentinean
Matthew Whittet	...	Satie
Kerry Walker	...	Marie
Caroline O'Connor	...	Nini Legs In The Air
Christine Anu	...	Arabia
Natalie Mendoza	...	China Doll
Lara Mulcahy	...	Môme Fromage
David Wenham	...	Audrey
Kylie Minogue	...	The Green Fairy

Storyline

The year is 1899, and Christian, a young English writer, has come to Paris to follow the Bohemian revolution taking hold of the city's drug and prostitute infested underworld. And nowhere is the thrill of the underworld more alive than at the Moulin Rouge, a night club where the rich and poor men alike come to be entertained by the dancers, but things take a wicked turn for Christian as he starts a deadly love affair with the star courtesan of the club, Satine. But her affections are also coveted by the club's patron: the Duke. A dangerous love triangle ensues as Satine and Christian attempt to fight all odds to stay together but a force that not even love can conquer is taking its toll on Satine...

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Plot Keywords:

duke | moulin rouge | courtesan | bohemian | writer | 

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Taglines:

Truth - Beauty - Freedom - Love

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Bazmark Inq. Pty Ltd Fox [France] (French)

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

1 June 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Moulin Rouge

Filming Locations:

Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$52,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$173,895 (Austria) (19 October 2001)

Gross:

$57,386,369 (USA) (19 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Bazmark Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen as the opening film at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

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Goofs

Before Satine sings the final "Come What May" there are tears streaming down her face and gook coming out of her nose. After the cut-away, her makeup is clean and her nose is beautiful.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Toulouse-Lautrec: [singing] There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy...

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Crazy Credits

The ending credits are printed on two (very long) hand painted rolls of paper. The camera is still while the paper is scrolled past. The place where the two pieces are joined is clearly visible. The crew tried to hide the splice, but couldn't make it look good enough, and so decided to keep it as seen in the movie.

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Connections

References Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

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Soundtracks

"Elephant Love Medley"
Featuring:
"All You Need Is Love"
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
"I Was Made For Lovin' You"
Written by Paul Stanley, Desmond Child and Vini Poncia
"One More Night"
Written by Phil Collins
"Pride (In The Name Of Love)"
Music by U2
Lyrics by Bono and The Edge
"Don't Leave Me This Way"
Written by Kenny Gamble (as Kenneth Gamble), Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert
"Silly Love Songs"
Written by Paul McCartney
"Up Where We Belong"
Written by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings
"Heroes"
Written by David Bowie and Brian Eno
"I Will Always Love You"
Written by Dolly Parton
"Your Song"
Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Performed by Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Plácido Domingo (as Placido Domingo)
Produced by Blam, Josh G. Abrahams, Craig Armstrong and Marius De Vries (as Marius Devries)

User Reviews

This is a musical for people who don't like musicals.

This was easily one of the best movies I've seen in years. Rarely do movies have a visual force capable of stunning you into rapt silence; and even more rare are films able to further this with a soundtrack that can move you and ensnare you as well, if not better, than the images. Yet some how, through genius, magic, luck, or some combination, Moulin Rouge has managed to do both. In truth Moulin Rouge is a fusion of two fabulous films into one. A film of images capable of conveying meaning without dialog or music, and a film which you could feel and understand with out needing to see it. Much effort was obviously spent on both the visual and audio aspects of this film, and by choosing not to focus on one over the other, and sacrifice the songs for the story or vice versa, the filmmakers were able to make a truly unique, modern musical which those of us who have hated musical since childhood could enjoy. Moulin Rouge is a blend of old, established techniques with innovative experimental ones, resulting in a movie which could only have been made in our time, yet which has a classic feel. The acting is wonderful, the mixture of modern songs is ingenious, and the cinematography is at times simply amazing. The end result is a stunning film with unbelievable performances; a cinematic experience that people will be loving, analyzing and trying to imitate for year.