Moulin Rouge!
by Baz Luhrmann
Postmodern Criticism
Summary
In 1899, a young, English poet named Christian moves to Paris to pursue his career as a writer. He then meets Toulouse Lautrec and Harold Zidler, the two members of the Bohemian movement which owns a lavish nightclub called "Moulin Rouge". Lautrec and Harold convinced Christian to make a musical show for them, so that they can find a backer who can make the 'Moulin Rouge' a proper theater. As the three arrived at the club, Christian meets Satine, the highest paid star and the city's most famous courtesan. He immediately falls in love with her, as Touluse is frequently arranging him to see Satine in her private chamber to present the work. Satine as well, fell in love with him, thinking that he was the duke. But her feelings never fade even when she discovered that Christian was just a writer.
The club's owner, however, negotiates with a wealthy duke to help pay for the club. The Duke will only agree if he gets Satine. When the offer was confirmed, the Duke had found out about Christian and Satine's relationship. Jealous and enraged, he threatens to stop financing the show if Satine continues to meet up with him.
As the cabaret was gradually converted into a theater, the two still continued seeing each other. Afraid for the Duke's warning, Zidler arranges Satine to dine with the Duke one evening. Satine then learns she has tuberculosis, and that her condition had caused her to become ill. She explained this to Zidler, and had him make excuses for the Duke.
Zidler learns that Satine cannot live longer, so he permits her to see Christian, only to tell that they must end their affair for it endangers the show. Christian insisted and developed a song instead to affirm their love.
Satine offers the Duke to spend a night with her to divert his attention. But upon seeing Christian on the streets, she realizes that she cannot anymore go with her plans. The Duke tries to rape her, but was then saved by Le Chocolat, one of the cabaret dancers, and was reunited with Christian.
Their love was tested for how many times, such as when the Duke threatens again to kill Christian if he could not get Satine. Christian was banished from the Moulin Rouge and becomes depressed, even though Toulouse insists that Satine loves him.
On the night of the show, Christian sneaks into the Moulin Rouge and intends to pay Satine, in order to return his love just as the Duke is paying for her. They suddenly find themselves in the spotlight, as Zidler convinces the audience that Christian is the disguised sitar player. Christian denounces Satine and walks off the stage.
When the Duke and his bodyguard attempted to kill Christian, everyone stopped them including Ziddler. The Duke then stormed out of the club, as Christian and Satine completed their song.
The couple affirmed their love, but only before the woman died (because of her illness). The story, though ended in tragedy, is as well mixed with contentment. Because if you really love a person, you will still remember him/her even if death sets you apart. Just as what Christian felt for Satine. He doesn't think of her death as a loss, but instead used it as an inspiration to finish his writing "A Love that will Live Forever", a tale that was driven out of their love story.
Intertextuality
In the last part of the movie scene where the Duke's body guard attempted to shoot Christian when he and Satine finally meet, the scene was somewhat similar to the romantic film "Titanic" because it shows strong feelings of protest when Rose's fiance also attempted to kill Jack with a gun but was then stopped.
Satine was like Ali in "Burlesque" wherein the spotlight was always on her, singing while performing to designate that she is the "star" of the show.
The story is about an ordinary writer who fell in love with a popular and sophisticated woman. This links to the movie "Titanic" because of the typical scenario, only to differentiate the two men as writer (Christian) and an artist (Jack).
Pastiche
Moulin Rouge is a jukebox-musical film similar to the "Cabaret" wherein a club has its own highly-paid star to run the show. It is where the "can-can" originated - a seductive dance by the courtesans that was then evolved as a form of entertainment today that also led to the introduction of other cabarets across the Europe. The film uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quartre of Paris, France.
As the cabaret was gradually converted into a theater, the two still continued seeing each other. Afraid for the Duke's warning, Zidler arranges Satine to dine with the Duke one evening. Satine then learns she has tuberculosis, and that her condition had caused her to become ill. She explained this to Zidler, and had him make excuses for the Duke.
Zidler learns that Satine cannot live longer, so he permits her to see Christian, only to tell that they must end their affair for it endangers the show. Christian insisted and developed a song instead to affirm their love.
Satine offers the Duke to spend a night with her to divert his attention. But upon seeing Christian on the streets, she realizes that she cannot anymore go with her plans. The Duke tries to rape her, but was then saved by Le Chocolat, one of the cabaret dancers, and was reunited with Christian.
Their love was tested for how many times, such as when the Duke threatens again to kill Christian if he could not get Satine. Christian was banished from the Moulin Rouge and becomes depressed, even though Toulouse insists that Satine loves him.
On the night of the show, Christian sneaks into the Moulin Rouge and intends to pay Satine, in order to return his love just as the Duke is paying for her. They suddenly find themselves in the spotlight, as Zidler convinces the audience that Christian is the disguised sitar player. Christian denounces Satine and walks off the stage.
When the Duke and his bodyguard attempted to kill Christian, everyone stopped them including Ziddler. The Duke then stormed out of the club, as Christian and Satine completed their song.
The couple affirmed their love, but only before the woman died (because of her illness). The story, though ended in tragedy, is as well mixed with contentment. Because if you really love a person, you will still remember him/her even if death sets you apart. Just as what Christian felt for Satine. He doesn't think of her death as a loss, but instead used it as an inspiration to finish his writing "A Love that will Live Forever", a tale that was driven out of their love story.
Intertextuality
In the last part of the movie scene where the Duke's body guard attempted to shoot Christian when he and Satine finally meet, the scene was somewhat similar to the romantic film "Titanic" because it shows strong feelings of protest when Rose's fiance also attempted to kill Jack with a gun but was then stopped.
Satine was like Ali in "Burlesque" wherein the spotlight was always on her, singing while performing to designate that she is the "star" of the show.
The story is about an ordinary writer who fell in love with a popular and sophisticated woman. This links to the movie "Titanic" because of the typical scenario, only to differentiate the two men as writer (Christian) and an artist (Jack).
Pastiche
Moulin Rouge is a jukebox-musical film similar to the "Cabaret" wherein a club has its own highly-paid star to run the show. It is where the "can-can" originated - a seductive dance by the courtesans that was then evolved as a form of entertainment today that also led to the introduction of other cabarets across the Europe. The film uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quartre of Paris, France.
