Starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, Caroline O'Connor, Natalie Mendoza, Lara Mulcahy. Written and Directed by Baz Luhrmann. In 1899 Paris, Moulin Rouge is the hottest night club in the Bohemian enclave of Montmartre. Poor and artistic come from far and wide to experience the ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and love. Not to mention absinthe, prostitutes and general decadence. Young poet-writer Christian (McGregor) has travelled to gay Paree to find true love, and takes up residence in a flat opposite the Moulin Rouge. He stumbles across Toulouse-Lautrec (Leguizamo), and Lautrec is quickly impressed with Christian's wordsmith talents. He sneaks him into Moulin Rouge to see the "Sparkling Diamond" Satine (Kidman), the headlining dancer in the club. Sought after by men far and wide, she sleeps with rich men for money and to attain her goal of becoming a Real Actress. The owner of the Moulin Rouge is Harold Zidler, who will sell drinks, decadance, women or anything he can to keep his nightclub afloat. Needing money to renovate the dancehall to stage a play, he has found a willing investor, the Duke (Roxburgh). But the duke's investment comes with strings attached, desiring to have Satine as one of his possessions. But unfortunately, Satine has fallen for the charms of Christian, and she will have to choose between love, her dream of becoming an actress, and her love of the Moulin Rouge and its people. "The greatest thing is to love, and be loved in return." This is the theme of the energetic, over-the-top, and joyous Moulin Rouge. Combining the style of the Busby-Berkley and 50's musicals with the energy and fast cuts of rock videos, it is a musical in the old sense of the word, communicating much of the plot and characterization through musical numbers. Amazing visually, lavishly choreographed dance scenes, suprisingly good musical numbers, it is an unabashedly romantic story in the best sense of the term. The music is composed primarily of tunes from the 20th century, from Elton John's Your Song to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit to T-Rex's Children of the Revolution to the interesting use of The Police's Roxanne, but these songs are lushly orchestrated and well sung. The ingenious part is that these songs are combined together into unified thematic numbers that nicely work with the themes and sentiments of the characters. The vocals of Nicole Kidman are quite good, but Ewan McGregor's are nothing short of amazing, crooning ballads and big band numbers smoothly and expressively. Even British veteran Jim Broadbent's growling vocals are put to good effect, doing a funny and unique take on Madonna's Like A Virgin. The performances are first rate, from funny to surprisingly moving in the latter stages of the plot. Kidman smoulders throughout, adding humour and emotion to her sex kitten vamp. McGregor is excellent as the romantic foil searching for love, and Leguizamo as Toulouse Lautrec serves as an anchor around which the characters revolve and embodies the bohemian, artistic spirit of late 19th century Paris. Broadbent and Roxburgh provide humourous and solid support. I was surprised at how much I loved Moulin Rouge. I would recommend it to anyone who loves or can even remotely stand musicals. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page