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"Moulin Rouge!" Reviewed by Tom Mangan (Click on the images to see larger version and credits.) Moulin Rouge was beguiling from the moment I wriggled it out of its case from the video store. I could see that the tape had to be rewound, but the rewind happened so quickly that I figured the previous renter had given up on it in the first 15-20 minutes. A full rewind tells me only the previous renter was a clod, but a partial rewind invites a tantalizing bit of guesswork: What would provoke the casual film fan to mutter "this is nuts," write off his three dollars as lost and hit Eject so early in the film? I figured it it had to be when the ornate musical dance number set in a 1900 Paris nightclub launched into the chorus from Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." That instant pretty much defines whether you'll like Moulin Rouge. If you laugh out loud and groove along, you're there. If you're mystified or dumbfounded, you'll want to turn to the next video in the pile.
Early on, the troupe is fighting for the right words for a scene: They keep mentioning hills and music and things being in the air.
It's a hilarious and incongruous scene that sets the mind calculating ... "Well, that song could have existed in 1900 ..." Christian and his compatriots, inspired by the tune's beauty, hatch a plot to get the owner of the nearby Moulin Rouge nightclub to invest in their musical. The film's tone unfolds at the Moulin Rouge -- almost all the songs are cultural touchstones made famous by the likes of Madonna and Marilyn Monroe.
The story unfolds along familiar lines, with poor boy and rich man vying for Satine's affections. The late-century pop songs meld into the script so exquisitely that you forget you've seen this story a thousand times before. On one level it's comedy -- Elton John's "Your Song" and Madonna's "Like a Virgin" bring chuckles at first -- but on another level it's music driving the plot.
DVD at Amazon.com
See cast, credit and other details about "Moulin Rouge!" at Internet Movie Data Base. |