Moulin Rouge - Opening
Section 1
Quote: Character
on top of windmill, dressed in a ruff, sings: "There was a boy.."
all within the art nouveau border, but arm of windmill breaking through
this frame. Sign "Lamour"
Explain: continues contrast with previous liveliness. It is Baz Lurhmann
establishing "a comic, tragic cinematic language". Whole
film goes from comedy to tragedy to heighten the tragedy by contrast. In the
same way, the music (elsewhere) goes from crescendo to crescendo to crescendo,
heightening the experience. Windmill's sails breaking the through the boundary
provided by the art nouveau border = what the film is constantly doing = breaking
the rules and establishing new - the comic, tragic cinematic language. Windmill
is the Moulin Rouge = Satine, sails also indicate passage of time - at the
very end of the film, from Winter to Summer, "Lamour" = Love = major
theme of the film: love of Christian for Satine, Satine for Christian, Toulouse
Lautrec for Christian, Duke for Satine, Duke for himself, Christian's father
for him, Baz Luhrmann for his father Leonard.
