Baz Lurhmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet was a noble failure. Mainly because Lurhmann attempted to take Shakespeare's language which is elevated, if not operatic, and tried to make it common. At some level, actors spouting Shakespeare while cavorting in something that looks like Miami Beach and brandishing revolvers is ridiculous.
For this reason, I was in no hurry to see Moulin Rouge!.
Boy, was I wrong. I regret not having seen this film on the big screen.
Here, Lurhmann has done the opposite. He has taken something common (pop music) and elevated it to the operatic. The result is stunning.
It is quite possible that someone is already thinking about adapting this movie for Broadway. I wish someone was thinking of making an opera out of it. It could infuse some life and youth into the same old schedule of Puccini, Verdi and Mozart in heavy rotation at regional opera companies.
I actually loved the frenetic opening. Particularly, the introduction to the decay and squalor of Montmartre circa 1900. Better still, the first number in the Moulin Rouge was like a Degas had leaped into life off of the canvas. I am less enthusiastic about the absinthe soaked number.
All in all, I fell in love with this movie the moment Ewan McGregor burst into "The Sound of Music". It was a dizzy, thrilling ride after that. I think I caught my breath again only after Kidman fell from the trapeze.
