Moulin Rouge

Tags

2000's, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo, Moulin Rouge, Musical, Nicole Kidman, Richard Roxburgh, Romance

Film Title

Moulin Rouge

Director

Baz Luhrmann

Starring

• Ewan McGregor as Christian
• Nicole Kidman as Satine
• Jim Broadbent as Harold Zidler
• Richard Roxburgh as The Duke
• John Leguizamo as  Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

An utterly fantastical, spectacular musical romance, Moulin Rouge is a marvel to behold. With artistic flair and daring panache, Baz Luhrmann crafts an ambitious and boldly mounted extravaganza combining humour, passion and music.

The time is 1900 and young dreamy poet Christian moves to Montmartre, Paris to be among the burgeoning Bohemian writing movement. It isn’t long until Christian comes into contact with the eccentric Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and his artistic circle. After seeing Christian’s deep talent for words, Toulouse and his friends persuade him to help them finish writing their new show that they want to sell. They take Christian to the decadent dance hall Moulin Rouge, were the dancing is frantic, the atmosphere charged and the sexuality is through the roof as it also doubles as a bordello. It is a place where the rich folk of Paris mingles with the underworld in gaudy business, boozy antics and seedy dealings. The plan is to sell the play to the garrulous owner and impresario Harold Zidler. The star of the Moulin Rouge is a beautiful courtesan named Satine who is a talented singer and wants to be an actress. Upon meeting her after a series of mishaps when she believes he is someone else, Christian is instantly in love and his way with poetry and genuine emotion soon makes these feelings reciprocated by the stunning Satine. The hitch to their flourishing romance is when Harold gets an investor for the play in the form of the unscrupulous Duke, who wants to be bound to Satine and slowly comes to see that Satine has feelings for someone else which causes his anger to considerably rise. As Christian and Satine conduct a concealed affair, there is also the secret matter that Satine is tragically dying of consumption. As the day of the show nears, love, jealousy and tragedy collide in spectacular fashion as the show must go on.

As soon as the movie starts with something akin to a fanfare, you just know that Moulin Rouge is going to be something special. Baz Luhrmann launches us into an intoxicating world of artistic flourishes and grand passions that benefits from and soars because of stunning set design, costumes and visuals. The way he shoots the scenes within the title dance hall are fantastic with quick cuts and a kinetic pace mixing as colourful skirts are lifted in the can can, decadent joy comes alive and a promise of love emerges for Christian in an exotic atmosphere. Moulin Rouge is nothing short of a feast for the senses and ears and Luhrmann knows how to engross us in a spellbinding fable with a tragic heart at the centre of it all. I especially love how the musical numbers are songs that are modern and transported into the old-fashioned setting with cheeky panache and chutzpah. I can’t explain why but I really get a kick out of hearing these contemporary numbers being performed in an archaic environment. Now there are those that will argue that Moulin Rouge is nothing more than grandiose style over substance. I can see where people may be coming from with that accusation, but I for one was too swept up in the movie and found that while the style was overwhelming in parts, there was still interesting characters and a love story in it that left me moved. The romance between Christian and Satine has a feeling of magic to it, they are really meant to be together but ultimately fate my have other plans for these designs and won’t let it be an easy ride for either.

Ewan McGregor is ideally cast as the naive poet Christian, who believes with all his being that love is essential to life. McGregor has a really genuine and earnest way about him here that we sympathise with Christian as his love for Satine is threatened by other forces. One should also note his excellent vocal skills that are mightily impressive to hear. The same can be said of Nicole Kidman, whose singing voice can be described as heavenly. She exudes such a vibrancy, joy and ultimately desperate sadness as the showgirl Satine slowly dying but finding her one true love. Kidman gives her all to the part and shows a flair for seductive comic scenes as well as deep emotional ones that show her incredible range. The ever-reliable Jim Broadbent steals every scene he’s in with his gusto, sense of humour and outrageous look as the showman Harold, who watches over his stars of the show but in particular Satine. Richard Roxburgh has a snake-like quality that he cloaks his character of The Duke in that makes him a very nasty piece of work indeed. John Leguizamo is an utter delight as the impish Toulouse who brings Christian into his circle of artists and writers.

Bold, breathtaking and impressively splendid, Moulin Rouge is simply put a wonderful musical brimming with life.

Not Without My Daughter

Tags

1990's, Alfred Molina, Based on a true story, Brian Gilbert, Drama, Not Without My Daughter, Roshan Seth, Sally Field, Sasson Gabai, Sheila Rosenthal

Film Title

Not Without My Daughter

Director

Brian Gilbert

Starring

• Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody
• Alfred Molina as Sayed Bozorg ‘Moody’ Mahmoody
• Sheila Rosenthal as Mahtob Mahmoody
• Roshan Seth as Houssein
• Sasson Gabai as Hamid

Based on a true story, Not Without My Daughter tells of Betty Mahmoody, who managed to escape Iran with her daughter after being kept against her will by her husband. As a movie it is flawed in various aspects, but it is still a powerful movie despite being hampered by histrionic writing and a sometimes incomprehensible pace.

It is 1984, Betty Mahmoody is a loving wife to her Iranian born husband who is simply referred to as ‘Moody’ and a doting mother to five-year old daughter Mahtob. Moody is a physician and Betty a homemaker who have a comfortable life in Michigan. All this changes, when Moody wants to take Betty and Mahtob to Tehran to meet his family. Betty is very reluctant to visit Iran due to the various changes and volatility of the country. Eventually she agrees to a two-week visit to Moody’s family. Yet when it is time for the family to return to America, Moody tells Betty that he plans for the family to stay in Iran, much to Betty’s dismay. When she protests, Moody starts to become physically and emotionally violent towards her, telling her that she must obey and conform to his ways or else. Realizing that she is trapped in a culture she doesn’t understand, knowing that her daughter could be taken away from her if she tries to divorce Moody and constantly watched by Moody and his family, Betty knows that the chance for escape with her daughter is pretty slim. But Betty hasn’t given up yet and secretly she plans her dangerous escape out of Iran, after meeting Hamid, a kindly shopkeeper with connections to the humanitarian Houssein who can help her plan a secret way to leave her brutish husband and return to safety as he has helped many people in the same situation before.

Now from what I’ve read about this film and the book that inspired it, Not Without My Daughter has greatly courted controversy. The main criticisms I’ve read are that the movie doesn’t portray Islam or Iran accurately and favours a stereotypical light. I’m not exactly well-versed in either subject but I do think that this is a movie, and it is based on one person’s experience of a place. I don’t think it should be taken as stone cold fact that every aspect is like how it is depicted here. Brian Gilbert at least manages to craft many suspenseful scenes as Betty plans her escape, knowing the danger it could bring and executes them with a powerful impact. Where Not Without My Daughter flounders is with the writing and all over the place sense of time. At times the sheer terror of the situation is ruined by a ridiculous line of dialogue or a slide into melodrama. The passage of time is another problem, with scenes passing by too quickly to sometimes register what is going on. It still retains a harrowing impact, but it could have improved upon greatly and doesn’t quite present the nightmarish situation of Betty as well it could. The score provided has emotional clarity to it as well, yet over indulges it on the synthesizers at times. With all of this hampering, at least Not Without My Daughter still becomes absorbing thanks to solid direction and effective cast.

What helps elevate Not Without My Daughter is the work of the cast, in particular Sally Field. Filled with a terrified realization, a quiet determination and a maternal love, Field is marvellous at conveying the struggles Betty endures and her will to find a way to freedom. Rising above the flawed script, Sally Field makes us sympathise with this woman in a nightmarish situation who knows that the odds are against her but still won’t give up in her quest to save herself and her daughter. Alfred Molina excellently portrays the shift in character of Moody, who goes from a seemingly caring husband to domineering tyrant with an alarming and frightening intensity. Molina is also physically well cast as Moody, as his height towers with menace over the petite Field. Young Sheila Rosenthal is very good as Mahtob, who is caught in the middle of everything and who doesn’t quite understand what is going on around her. Roshan Seth and Sasson Gabai are effective as two of the people who help orchestrate Betty’s escape.

Not Without My Daughter is far from a neatly constructed movie and does fall short in various intervals, but it gains an immense impact from the committed cast and some tense direction.