"Strip Away This Rifling On Familiar Pop Numbers...."..Moulin Rouge
Submitted by missclaire on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Philosophy
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"Strip Away This Rifling On Familiar Pop Numbers...."..Moulin Rouge
"Moulin Rouge"
"Strip away this rifling on familiar pop numbers, all of which provide the audience with ready made emotional responses, and what's left?"- Is this a fair appraisal of Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge"?
"Music touches us and unites us in a way that words can not describe, it is there when words fail us." Lurhmann has always had a passion for musicals, this is apparent in all films he has produced; Strictly Ballroom (1993), Romeo and Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge (2001).
Lurhmann's intention for "Moulin Rouge" was to take the genre and reinvent it, modernise it. Feels like a musical but has the soundtrack of a modern movie. It's hilariously funny one moment, heartbreaking the next, and a dance routine which moves us through emotion.
"Moulin Rouge" is a far cry from "The Sound Of Music." Traditional musicals concentrate more on the singing, the songs are usually constructed for that particular film and they don't already exist. As Lurhmann wanted to completely distort the genre of musicals, he used well known pop songs to appeal to a wider audience. When people think of musicals they generally have an image; 'cheesy' characters singing and dancing around and making a story from this. In the case of "Moulin Rouge" the story is already there and the music just assists it. We have to question 'did Lurhmann want his film to be a major box office success or did he simply want people to enjoy it for the artistic invention that it turned out to be?' Lurhmann has included characters which have always taken on different roles and almost seem complete contrasts to themselves in "Moulin Rouge". Ewan McGregor has never taken a singing part before and his voice is a new sound to our ears. His part as a "penniless poet" seems extremely innocent and mellow, it would appear that Lurhmann intended for it to be this way, he introduces us to a whole new perspective on him as an actor....
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