5 of 10
Cinematography by Donald McAlpine
Nicole Kidman
Ewan McGregor
John Leguizamo
Jim Broadbent
Richard Roxburgh
Jacek Koman
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| Moulin Rouge 5 of 10 |
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| Directed by Baz Luhrmann Cinematography by Donald McAlpine Nicole Kidman Ewan McGregor John Leguizamo Jim Broadbent Richard Roxburgh Jacek Koman |
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| This might be the best example of the creative and destructive power of a director that I have seen in some time. Luhrmann definitely has a vision. But he also has a weakness. And the result is very much split. It receives a mid-level ranking from me, but not because it was �middle of the road.� Instead, it was on both sides of the road at once; I loved it and hated it, sometimes at the same time. The thing that made parts of it good was exactly the same thing that made parts of it bad. Unbridled exuberance. In some scenes, the exuberance is on display, and those scenes are wonderful. But too often, the unbridled and unrestrained gets the upper hand; those scenes are grating at best, and all too often actually seem to damage the focus and thrust of the film. But enough general discussion. Let�s start with the film�s good points first, because its easier. And I�m better with the vitriol, anyway, so I like to save that for last. The most obvious one is McGregor. He is truly magnetic, and a wonderful illustration of the relatively old adage: �Some people, the camera truly loves.� I found myself involved in the story � one that I normally would not have found particularly compelling � simply because of his presence. (He also has an unexpectedly fine singing voice.) Jim Broadbent was amazing, in a very unusual role for him. Again, his singing was an unexpected high-point. And at times, the emotional effectiveness of the musical number �the Roxanne bit springs to mind � reminded me of why people make musicals�which allows me to segue easily into the bad. And that is the musical missteps are nearly as frequent�no, even more frequent than the successes. First off, the modernized musical selections were awful. There was a magical quality to the film that was ripped apart every time the Nirvana/Madonna/etc. inspired segments made an appearance. There is far too little original music in the film. Often, the songs dissolve into an unwieldy Frankenstein monster of pop-musical reference. Next, add the fact that Kidman�s character was flat, fairly boring, and completely predictable. And also that she has a considerably less accomplished singing voice than her fellow actors. Top all this off with the overwhelming evidence that Jill Bilcock should never be allowed to work as an editor again�or at least not until she gets her ADD fixed�and you have a magical, frustrating mish-mash, at once raised up and dashed down by the very same person. Luhrmann has a vision, to be sure. But he needs a ton of discipline, as well. | ||||||