Moulin Rouge - Opening Section
1
Quote: Can Can music, top hats and Can
Can dancers seen in silhouette. Moulin Rouge title, Exclamation Mark. Full
stop is Moulin Rouge motif
Explain: Music: Can Can music (Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques
Offenbach ) introduces both Moulin Rouge (where the can can was made famous,
and the theme of Orpheus in the Underworld. Christian is Orpheus who
in Greek mythology was a musician who could make stone and trees dance - as
Christian is able to wake the narcoleptic Argentinian - and like Orpheus is
also unable to rescue his wife from the underworld and death. Dancers in silhouette
made famous by Toulouse Lautrec. TL as an historical character: transformed
the world of art - all advertising owes a debt to TL. A deformed dwarf who
lisped and drooled and was very unattractive, (one might even say a right
minger!) yet he appreciated beauty, had a fascination for and painted red-headed
models, often associating with young handsome men through whom he could vicariously
experience romance, all TL liaisons being paid for. He was a tragic figure.
Can Can = Moulin Rouge, Moulin Rouge = Satine
