HTF REVIEW: "Moulin Rouge" (HTF pick for BEST DVD 2001) (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Chmiel]

David, um, the person in that picture is a GUY.
It's John Cameron Mitchell (who plays Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, one of my favorite films of the year).

 

[andrew markworthy]

Sorry to disagree with just about everyone here, but I think MR is a deeply flawed movie.

First, let's go through what's good about it. Certainly the DVD package is absolutely fine. Regarding the movie itself, the costumes and cinematography are praiseworthy and Nicole Kidman looks very sexy (but to be honest, so does practically any attractive woman in a basque and opera gloves).

Okay, on to why I dislike the movie:

(1) the consumption plotline. The heroine dying from consumption (i.e. pulmonary tuberculosis) was a standard cliche in 19th century art (e.g. La Traviata and La Boheme, just to name two operatic sources). It is not being tasteless or OTT to say that TB held the place in the 19th century public imagination that AIDS holds for us today. Just like AIDS, TB is infectious and in its time incurable. Nobody other than a totally braindead individual would fail to recognise the symptoms. So what are we to make of our heroine? If we substituted AIDS for TB in that movie, just how much sympathy do you have for her behaviour? She must really love the poor writer *so* much that she wants to give him a painful and incurable disease. Okay, you say, this is just the same as La Traviata, and nobody complains about that. True, but La Traviata has the compensation of some of Verdi's best tunes.

(b) Which brings us to the issue of the music. The idea of appropriating popular songs for a musical drama is nothing new, as an earlier contributor to this thread noted. However, am I the only one to find the adaptations clumsy and irritating? The juxtaposition of snatches of different songs (at times descending into a quodlibet) is often extraordinarily ham-fisted: there is very little wit or grace in their use. In the opening number, I was amused by the audacity of it, but after that, it's the same trick again and again and again and ...

(c) The direction leaves a lot to be desired. No shot seems to last longer than a nervous tic before we cut to another angle. Excitement is conveyed by the constant changes of view as much as the images themselves. It's acceptable in small doses, but over the length of a film, it's a rather one-note technique. Not surprisingly, with all this style being thrown at the viewer, there is precious little opportunity to engage with the characters, who are cliches. A central plot closely related to La Traviata, with assorted examples of the Fin de Siecle Parisian demi-monde and of course the usual assemblage of warm-hearted theatre folk. The acting is generally okay, but I defy anyone to engage with the characters. At times, they seem to be there are filler between the set pieces.

(d) if anyone can explain why Jim Broadbent's rendition of 'Like a Virgin' wasn't left on the cutting room floor, please let me know.

I could go on, but I think I've indicated that I don't like this movie. I feel mean-spirited doing so, because almost everyone else clearly loves it.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Andrew,

You shouldn't feel mean spirited. This

is your opinion, and it is certainly welcome

in this thread and on this forum.

I am sorry to learn that you did not like it,

and frankly, I expected this would not be

everyone's cup of tea.

Take Care!

 

[Scott Weinberg]

My 2 cents, a bit late:
I loved Moulin Rouge and I proudly list it among my favorite movies of the year.
When I took a look at the extensive DVD features, I was thrilled. After seeing the HTF call it the finest DVD of the year, well, I simply cannot WAIT until this Tuesday!
That is all.

 

[Roger Mathus]

Today, I watched the DVD of Moulin Rouge and without details I can also say that it is among my favorites of 2001. very stylish and well done.

 

[Seth Paxton]

And it's obviously just taste as the "Like A Virgin" sequence was one of my FAVORITE moments, something totally unexpected.

I was constantly surprised by the unique ways in which Baz pirated the songs and used them to serve a new purpose, often with a somewhat different meaning than originally intended.

I have no problem with the TB plotline as the risk to Ewan is totally ignored in the plot and therefore to me, ignorable within the diegetic context it is used. It's being used with a shift from reality, clearly. It serves only to be a illness fatal to her and is not mentioned ever in any other context in the film.

The pacing clearly changes and slows in the 2nd half of the film and upon my first viewing even I found that I ENJOYED the frenetic pace since we were suppose to be joining small-town Ewan on his first trip to the craziest place on Earth at the turn of the century. I thought Baz clearly attempted to impart that overwhelmed feeling both visually and aurally early in the film.

Cripes, this small-town guy goes to 100 mph in one day in Paris. The crazy artists upstairs, the absinthe, and off to the heart of the Moulin Rouge. He doesn't get to slowly adjust, so why should the audience. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Finally, I think a KEY to the story is that he is supposed to be this amazing composer/writer. What better way to impart that to the audience than by using music familiar to them. That way when he breaks into "The hills are alive..." the audience says "Yes, that's correct, that's the way it should be". This is what they should feel because that is what the characters are thinking. They are hearing something that sounds catchy to them on their first listen, so the audience should as well.

If you use all original music you run the great risk of not writing music good enough to blow away the audience. After all, writing great tunes is a whole other ballgame there. Meaning that if you have 2 characters at a song competition and the "bad" one has a song that actually ends up sounding just as good at the "obvious" winner, the audience is pulled out of it just a bit. And if you are using original music, just like any other musician, it's hard to be sure what songs the audience will react to best.

So Baz avoids that and gets down to business. Every tune out of Ewan's mouth is a hit, rolls off the tongue, because it's been prepicked from pop music vernacular. I think it's a spot-on concept.

BTW, when you say that the illness is a fault but that it was okay in something else because "the songs were good in that" then the only REAL fault you are pointing out is that you didn't like the music. If the same device used the same way elsewhere is okay, then that's not the problem is it?

 

[Robyn Young]

About the music(which is the main thing here I didn't like):

I was watching the "Making Of" documentary, and I want to say that one of they guys said that the only original composition(i.e. only music originally written, rather than music adapted from other sources) was the song "come what may." It was in fact the only piece that I enjoyed of the whole movie. Someone prior said that they may not have been able to write quality original pieces, and based on this one song, I thing that they could have done okay, but just didn't feel like it.

I'm certain that I would have enjoyed this much more with original music. I kept hearing clips of songs (some of which I never liked when they were popular/on the radio)that seemingly were randomly thrown in, and every time I heard one, I winced. (at one point, I thought of a "wierd al" polka..)

I still liked the film, but I'm not sure I'll ever watch it again, just because I don't see the musical choices they made ever growing on me.

robyn

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This is how I see the music side of this movie....

There were obviously two choices. Either write

original music that was faithful to that period

or use familiar pop music.

In an age when (unfortunately) film musicals are

dead, I think that the only way that Director Baz

Luhrmann could connect with this generation was

by using music that was familiar to his audiance.

You also must admit, he didn't just steal music

and throw it in the movie. What he did was

ingeniously take familiar music and reinvent it

for this film. It was music that actually told

the film's story through its lyrics.

At first, I was whincing at an Elton John song

being sung in a turn of the century Paris film.

But it didn't take long for me to understand what

the Director was doing. I actually enjoyed this

film more because I knew the music and I was really

amazed at how they reinterpreted that music often

adding an operatic element to it.

It's one thing to do a musical in the year 2001

and try to make it like every other musical you

have seen before. It's another to do something

UNIQUE and DIFFERENT that hasn't been thought of

before -- that will connect a younger audiance with

a musical that would probably have failed if done

by the same old formula.

 

[Chris Maynard]

I watched this movie for the first time this evening.

By far, one of the best movies I have seen in many years.

Perfectly executed and brilliantly performed. A visual masterpiece with amazing energy and emotion.

I need to watch this again...

 

[Seth Paxton]

Also regarding the music.
Having listened to some of the commentaries and some of the green fairy section, it sounds like my general feeling was really what they had in mind. Same for the visuals. They explicitly say that a big part of these choices was to put a modern audience in the place of what someone like Christian would have felt at the time.
They say that to use music and lighting of the time period would have left it feeling "flat" to us rather than conveying the actual overwhelmingly lavish, over-the-top feeling that it was noted for given people of that era. They are open about all these changes, including using lighting not really available at the time.
They also speak in terms of taking the audience to Oz or Wonderland, and point out several visual/narrative cues that these changes are taking place as they "adapt" us to the level the film will work on.
And while you may prefer that song, I think you will find that the "Elephant Love Medley" was the most popular song from the film. Also, writing one song is one thing, but many another. Clearly it was not laziness because they go to great extent to reinvent the songs and intertwine them at many points. And as I say, the describe in detail their reasoning. Me, I like Nature Boy.
BTW, Ron, I'm still not sure if it's better than AF:Untitled, but it's a damn fine set of extras. Really close between the 2 DVDs.
I think your choice is A-OK.
I really like that Baz, et al. are so interested in sharing the ideals and concepts behind their effort. The openly make full use of the DVD format (with some help from Peter and the gang I'm sure).

 

[Tony Scello]

Ron,

Thanks for your review. I didn't see this in the theater but took a chance and was able to pick up the DVD this weekend. I very much enjoyed the film. The film has boundless energy and offers an overwhelming sensory experience unlike anything I've seen before. I'm not usually a fan of musicals but this is unlike most musicals. It has a fairy tale, dream-like quality that sucked me in from the start. Nicole Kidman steals the show and deserves to be recognized. Fox has delivered, in my opinion, a flawless transfer with colors and textures that almost leap off the screen. The DTS 5.1 track that I listened to was very pleasing. I'm looking foward to sampling all the bonus materials in the coming days. As with your rewiew a few years ago for The Iron Giant, I took a chance then as with now, and have been pleasently surprised in both cases. Thanks.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

This morning while watching the Today Show on NBC, I saw an add for the Moulin Rouge DVD, what suprised me was that in the ad they memntioned the Home Theater Forum! It said "Best DVD of 2001 - Home Theater Forum"

Guess this shows the stuidos this place has moxie!

Congrats Ron!

Scott

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Any word from Fox on whether they're going to fix the DTS lip synch problem? I'm holding off on this one until that gets resolved; I don't need another Holy Grail fiasco.

 

[WoodyH]

Just picked up my copy - unfortunately, I've still got four hours of work left before I can go home and watch it! :frowning: Ah, well, I suppose I'll make it.
My next project, when I get some free time - create a soundtrack! I'd been hoping since I first saw this that they'd release a Broadway musical style soundtrack, with virtually the entire film over 2 CD's but it never happened. While I like the official soundtrack well enough, there were so many other tracks that I wanted to have availalble to listen (their version of Queen's "The Show Must Go On", particularly), that I'm just going to make my own. Should be easy enough by running my decoder in stereo mode to downconvert the film and patching that through to my Mac and recording it to audio. Fun fun fun...

 

[Steve Tannehill]

My copy is sitting at my desk, fresh from Best Buy...I'll probably fire it up tonight when I go home...although if I can't get past the contemporary songs being used in a period piece, I may just have to watch Hedwig and the Angry Inch instead.
- Steve

 

[Sean Conklin]

Any word from Fox on whether they're going to fix the DTS lip synch problem? I'm holding off on this one until that gets resolved; I don't need another Holy Grail fiasco.

Can anyone else confirm this? I just bought MR this morning and am anticipating enjoying this film very much!! And am hoping there is no lip synch problems.

I bought this sight unseen as a result of Ron's and subsequent members favorable review!! I will not see it until late tonight after bowling league, am I in for a treat or what?!

 

[Sean Conklin]

OK, I'll answer my own question. I was able to watch the first hour or so and:
Wow! I'm still spinning!I don't think I can remember such an assault on my hearing and visual senses!
This is eye and ear candy of the likes which I've never seen or heard!
This film is utterly fantastic, and if I knew how to write a review, I could go on and on, and I have only seen half of the film! I will continue my raving when I finish the film tonight!
Ron, you were right! Moulin Rouge

 

[Steve_Lam]

I'm also having a lipsynch problem with the DTS track on the Moulin Rouge DVD. I seem to notice it more at the beginning of the movie.

The "Your Song" scene you can really notice the singing is advanced from the video. The Dolby tracks are fine.

I phoned Fox customer support, and they seemed SURPRISED, they even told me I was the first person to mention this problem.

BTW: their number: 1-888-223-2FOX

Oh well... I guess I'll stick with the AC-3 5.1 channel.

Later,

SLam

 

[John DeLuca]

I finished watching this last night with my wife and have to say I loved this movie. I was expecting myself to hate it but I had a smile on my face the whole time watching it. I skipped seeing it in the movies and told my wife to go see it with her mother.

I agree with Ron on this one. I really enjoyed the music and I believe it made the movie much more enjoyable because I knew the songs already. To switch from Lady Marmelade into Smells Like Teen Spirit has to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen or heard. It's so strange, yet it works well.

Edit: By the way, I didn't notice any lip-synch problems with the DTS version at all.

 

[Sean Oneil]

Amazing Film! There really is nothing that I did not like about it.

Any lip-synch problems are probably the result of dialog looping and are in the original mix.