Moulin Rouge!

You can expect many things from this film, but you’ll get something different. First of all, it’s worth mentioning the beautiful songs and the amazing performances; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many likeable actors together. The opening part, playing on a very bold and fun note, blew me away, with its unique costumes, sets, choreographies, and then Nirvana's “Smeels Like Teen Spirit” kicks in – just a blast. The rest of the film is also conducted in the most original spirit and is a feast for the eyes and ears, but I didn't like the more romantic, sometimes a bit depressing part so much. It was still an enjoyable show, but the crazy beginning made a stronger impression. 80% (28/02/2012)

Baz Luhrmann has an amazing ability to turn Moulin Rouge into an unusually intense, emotional, "original", (non-)kitsch spectacle that is just very hard not to succumb to. And I loved the grace with which Moulin Rouge teeters on the edge between total kitsch and riveting emotional spectacle. The choreography, the sets, the costumes, the music, the boldness and inventiveness of the direction, the hauntingly beautiful Nicole Kidman... plainly and simply the prototype of a film that can provide an intense emotional experience from beginning to end. A year earlier, Lars von Trier also made a wannabe musical "his own way", which I coincidentally also gave full marks. The difference is that I was still quite nauseous for a few days after Dancer in the Dark and to this day I have no desire for a second viewing. With this film, I know I will want to watch it again very soon and I definitely won't be nauseous in the "Trier" sense :-) (08/08/2013)

In the first fifteen minutes or so I was already saying that it is unbearably over-styled, tasteless, bullshit… and wasn’t far from turning it off. But then – and I didn’t notice exactly when it happened – I realised how much I was enjoying it. I don’t think I ever had such a total change of opinion while watching a film. I can’t provide a sufficiently reasonable explanation why I’m giving five stars to this piece of kitsch, but I just can’t help it. (21/08/2009)

I've kept Moulin Rouge in my cupboard of unwatched films for a relatively long time and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see this musical classic on the big screen for the first time, where its qualities stood out all the more. From the very first minutes, we are thrown into a slightly maddening carousel of events interwoven with colourful costumes and sets, amazing singing and dancing sequences, and especially strong and convincing performances of a tragicomic nature. Of the ensemble cast, I was most impressed by Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman, who gave unforgettable and supremely plastic creations. I must also praise the plethora of interludes referring to various legendary songs, which surprisingly fit perfectly into the scenes, and the visuals and cinematography referring to different periods or genres of cinema. A film that is a feast for the senses and forms an unmissable gem within its genre. (13/11/2018)

Although the makers if this tried to remain on the brink of bearable and laughably bombastic kitsch soft porn, all too often this slips into a stupid, noisy (I don’t think there is one second of silence here or no scenes where someone isn’t jumping around, screaming, whistling etc.) patchwork full of cuts, certainly worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. However, once in a while it calms down and looks good, and so for instance during the tango or the live scene with Satine and Krystian, all of these criticisms move aside, because at these times Moulin Rouge is simply flawless. A shame that there aren’t more similarly powerful moments in this movie, but on the other hand there aren’t that few of them really. (28/12/2006)