Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Moulin Rouge! (2001), 8+

PG-13 | 2h 7min | Drama, Musical, Romance | 1 June 2001
A poet falls for a beautiful courtesan whom a jealous duke covets.
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writers: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent.
Pamela French ... assistant choreographer
John O'Connell ... choreographer
Esther Rodewald ... choreography department coordinator
Sheree Zellner ... assistant choreographer 


34 songs listed in the Soundtracks, but some are duplicates, and others are medleys. Wow, nowhere in the c.tracks did they mention Placido Domingo was the "powerhouse opera singer" they brought in to boost Jim Broadbent's singing. Otherwise the stars are not dubbed.

Love this film. Yes, it's visually frenetic, but that conveys what it would be like to attend the Moulin Rouge.

This does/provides things that I like about musicals: heightened reality (both visually and in the story), comedy/tragedy blended (with some whiplash-inducing transitions between them) including a heaping dose of farce, songs essential to the plot/story/character (too bad the dancing really only does that in the tango scene).

Love both c.tracks; I suspect BL could make a miniseries about creating this film.

The neon sign (also used by BL in Puccini: La bohème (1994), 7, here says 
L'amour fou,
mad love, obsessive passion
Translated literally as “insane love,” this saying describes a wild and uncontrollable passion that takes over when people fall in love. Unlike other romantic sayings, however, an amour fou is normally a passion which has completely taken over the relationship and threatens to turn it into something unhealthy.
The dvds contain annoyingly hidden features, but the internet reveals (hopefully) all. I've copied these from this site (in case it goes away): http://www.hometheaterinfo.com/hidden1.htm
On disc1, Special Feature Behind the Red Curtain, green fairy marker locations:

  1. 0:00:21 (ch1) Opening conductor/Leguizamo solo/CGI city construction
  2. 0:03:15 (ch2) The Windmill history – the real Moulin Rouge – Set construction
  3. 0:05:32 (ch3) Christian’s Garret
  4. 0:11:00 (ch4) The Main Hall of the Moulin Rouge
  5. 0:12:05 (ch4) The Garden  – The Red Elephant – Set Breakdown
  6. 0:48:55 (ch14) The Orpheus Myth and Writing the Love Song Melody
  7. 1:01:22 (ch19) The Gothic Tower – Rewriting History
  8. 1:52:52 (ch33) The Director’s Vision
On disc2, 15 easter eggs. I did not need a 10+ button, but did need to use both hands to hit Enter soon enough. These clips are non-essential, not worth the effort; most are only a few seconds long. I checked these other sources (15 disc2 dvd easter eggs; another version; only 9 here) to see if each covers the 15 listed below (same source as the 8 Red Curtain clips):

  1. Go to “The Stars” section, arrow up from John Leguizamo and highlight the green fairy and hit enter: John showcase his magical sitar outfit
  2. Go to “Stars” sub-menu, type ‘9’ + enter, then ‘17’ + enter: Bagpipe farewell for McGregor on the last day of principal photography. You may need the 10+ key to make this work.
  3. Go to “This Story Is About” in “Old Storylines & Script Comparisons” submenu, arrow right at ‘return’ option and highlight green fairy, hit enter: Director and crew cracking up. There seems to have been a lot of this on the set.
  4. Go to “The Cutting Room Floor” menu, highlight “main menu”, arrow left to highlight a red windmill, hit enter: Outtake of Nicole cracking up.
  5. Go to the last main menu of “Special Features”, highlight the “Back” arrow hit right to highlight a red fairy, hit enter: Outtake with Broadbent.
  6. Go to the “Dance” submenu, highlight “A Word From Baz”, arrow right to highlight the green fairy, hit enter: Luhrmann talking to actors at a rehearsal.
  7. Go to the “Choreography” submenu, highlight “main menu”, arrow right to highlight a windmill, hit enter: Director cutting loose.
  8. Go to “Music” section, select “The Lady Marmalade Phenomenon” and arrow right from the ‘Main Menu’ to locate a red windmill, hit enter: Director and other crewmember in a car.
  9. Go to “Design” submenu, in “Set Design”, select the gallery for “Gothic Tower”, go to the fifth page of the gallery, arrow up to highlight a red windmill, hit enter: rehearsal where Kidman is seductive.
  10. Go to the “Design” submenu in “Set Design”, select the gallery for “Spectacular, Spectacular”, go to the second page of the gallery, arrow up to highlight a green fairy, hit enter: Director at ADR studios.
  11. Go to “Design” submenu, in the “Costume Design” section, select the gallery for “A Courtesan’s Wardrobe”, go to the fourth page of the gallery, arrow up to highlight a green fairy, hit enter: Outtake Misplaced microphone for McGregor.
  12. Go to “Design” submenu, in “Costume Design”, choose gallery for “The Bohemians”, go to the fifth page of the gallery, arrow up and highlight a red windmill, hit enter: Bohemians kidding each other.
  13. Go to “Design” submenu, type ‘18’ + enter, then ‘99’ + enter: makeup artists dust some special effects nipples. You may need the 10+ key to make this one work.
  14. Go to “Design” submenu, in “Smoke & Mirrors”, type ‘5’ + enter, then ‘18’ + enter: Top hats lifting up on strings. You may need the 10+ to make this one work.
  15. Go to “Marketing” in the “Photo Gallery” section; highlight ‘Mary Ellen Mark’ and arrow right to red windmill, hit enter: John Leguizamo’s costume test

Rated 7.6 (247,513)

Fox & more, dir. Luhrmann; 8+


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