Moulin Rouge!

Okay I missed a day since my last review my bad, was felling a bit lazy. Well now it's time to review a musical that was nominated for Best Picture, the first of the last decade and the first in nearly 22 years since "All That Jazz." I'm talking about non other than the great love story known as "Moulin Rouge." I have to say the film was deservedly nominated for Best Picture because it did so many things so well. However "Moulin Rouge" is not a traditional musical, it has no original songs, instead it uses other popular songs, this type of musical is known as a Jukebox. The film itself is set in 1899 in the lovely city of Paris, but the songs are all modern classics.

The movie shines in to places one of which is the story. The story is about love and how it can change and make a person feel. The main character is Christian a aspiring writer, who writes great stories of love even though he has never experienced it. Out of sheer coincidence he winds up writting for a show called "Spectacular Spectacular." Christian and his fellow performers go to the Moulin Rouge were Satine mistakes him for a rich Duke/investor. They unexpectedly fall in love when the real Duke shows up and they are tossed into a forbidden romance. The story of love is so true and well executed. We as the audience feel for Satine and Christian and we wish to see them together.

The cast does a wonderful job in the movie. There are so many colorful characters. Satine, played by Nicole Kidman, steals the show though. She does an incredible job and shows off so many sides of her troubled character.

The other great part of this movie is the art direction. The movie is beautiful aesthetically. From flashy lights to grim set pieces, the world feels like a fantasy land. The set up and the way the characters look and dress were just spectacular. The actual directing was amazing to, how the songs were set up to the dance numbers. "Moulin Rouge" is just a sheer work of art.

The only thing that I didn't like were the songs. Don't get me wrong the songs that they used were great and used effectively in the movie, but I wish it had original songs that I could hum to. No matter it is a slight bump.

Overall the movie is great and it tells an great story about love. I really enjoyed the art style, but wish it had original songs. I give "Moulin Rouge" 4/5, a visual masterpiece with a timeless story.