If eliciting a deeper meaning behind the songs in effort to pilot a powerful message marks a necessary syntactic characteristic of the musical genre, Moulin Rouge fails. Nothing more than simple dialog written around dated love songs, the flashy package conceals no genuine plot content. In 1899, a young poet named Christian leaves his family's home and heads off to the Montmartre district of Paris where he falls into the debauched bohemian world of painter Toulouse-Lautrec. When he is enlisted to write a routine for the Moulin Rouge nightclub

An Australian with a background in opera, Luhrmann’s two previous films were also experiments in exuberant excess. Strictly Ballroom made a ballroom competition into a flamboyant theatrical exercise, and his William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet updated the play into a contempo teenage rumble. He constructs Moulin Rouge with the melodrama of a 19th century opera, the Technicolor brashness of a 1950s Hollywood musical and the quick-cutting frenzy of a music video. Nothing is really "period" about the movie—it’s like a costume revue taking place right now, with hit songs from the 1970s and 1980s. I am impatient with directors who use so many cuts their films seem to have been fed through electric fans. Luhrmann uses so many different setups and camera angles that some of the songs seem to be cut not on every word of the lyrics, but on every syllable. Without breathing room, the whole movie is on the same manic pitch as O'Connor's "Make 'em Laugh" number in Singin' in the Rain. Everything is screwed to a breakneck pitch, as if the characters have died and their lives are flashing before our eyes.

From the outset, the movie, especially the cast, weaves an enchanting spell. But as the story unfolds, the viewer finds that there is serious material and a lesson in this story. The film questions our values of class, gender, love, roles in relationships, and self-worth. Any controversy over Hepburn vs. Julie Andrews for the part of Eliza is easily overlooked by perfection in almost everything, including costumes, lighting, and set direction. Yet, for all the character's and overall charm of this movie, you'll find yourself questioning your values at the end of it, and find that the answer is delivered with love, in a most beguiling story set in an naturally enchanting setting.

The purpose is to give momentum to a music-based plot, exploring the real identities of the characters. Who is Satine? A leggy redhead who can look like a million in a nightclub costume, and then melt into a guy's arms. Who is Christian? A man who embodies longing with his eyes and sighs—whose very essence, whose entire being, is composed of need for Satine. With the Duke, we are reminded of silent films in which the titles said "The Duke," and then he sneered at you.

, he soon falls for the club's star, a courtesan named Satine. Instead of developing their love story through the course of the plot, they immediately sleep together (the modern place-holde

Some topics in this essay:
Moulin Rouge, Singin' Rain, Grown Accustomed, Andrews Eliza, Satine Instead, Satine Duke, Gold Diggers, Nicole Kidman, Fair Lady�gives, Australia Paris, moulin rouge, music video, love songs, musical genre, true love, genre moulin, genre moulin rouge, ewan mcgregor, nicole kidman,