History Behind Moulin Rouge the Movie Essay

It was 1899 in Paris. France. it was the clip of the Bohemian Revolution. and it was the summer of love. Christian. played by Ewan McGregor. was a author and came to Paris to see this revolution and be surrounded by the creative persons. vocalists. and terpsichoreans of this new Bohemian universe. Small did he cognize that he would see something he had ne'er felt before but ever believed in: love. Moulin Rouge. directed by Baz Luhrmann. is an keen film musical based off of a existent life nightclub called Moulin Rouge in Montmartre. The film tells the narrative of the love trigon between Christian. Satine aka the “Sparkling Diamond” of the Moulin Rouge. played by Nicole Kidman. and The Duke. Although Christian and Satine are fictional characters. the narrative includes existent life characters such as Harold Zidler. the co-mastermind of the Moulin Rouge and Toulouse-Lautrec. a celebrated Gallic creative person. Moulin Rouge is a great expression into what life was like back in Paris in 1900. but besides adds in the love narrative between Christian and Satine to do for a great film musical.

In the beginning of the film. Christian’s optimistic love shines some light into Satine’s dark mercenary world. To do a life. Satine became a concubine at the Moulin Rouge. She gets paid for doing work forces believe what they want to believe. so she sells her organic structure to do money. She erroneously became attracted to Christian for his pure and optimistic belief in love. Sing that Christian did non hold a batch of money. she becomes hesitant of loving him because he would non be able to back up her and her dreams of being an actress. With Christian’s pure and optimistic belief of love. he captures Satine’s bosom by loving her for who she truly is. non for what she is. Although Satine dies in the terminal of the film. Christian learns that true love lasts everlastingly even through decease. Harold Zidler. who is non a fictional character. is the adult male who helped to run the existent Moulin Rouge nightclub. In the movie. and in existent life Paris. Zidler was the adult male who was. “a ‘brother’ to the creative persons and the adult male in the shadows who watched over the terpsichoreans and the remainder of the forces with a benevolent oculus and ruled with an Fe fist” ( History ) .

In the movie he is the 1 who is in charge of doing certain everything goes absolutely at the nightclub and makes certain all his terpsichoreans. particularly Satine. cognize what they are supposed to make and who they should affect that dark. Not merely did he run the Moulin Rouge he was besides a showman and performed with his terpsichoreans in the shows. Toulouse-lautrec was besides an of import individual when it comes to the nightclub in Paris. In the movie he does non hold a immense function other than aid Christian acquire inside the Moulin Rouge and happen a manner for him to run into Satine. In Paris in the 1900’s. though. he is said to hold been “the eyes of the Moulin Rouge. ” Toulouse-Lautrec attended every eventide show when the nightclub opened ; and as mentioned before he was an creative person. so every dark he would sit in a corner and pull the terpsichoreans accompanied by a glass of common wormwood ( History ) .

Order custom essay History Behind Moulin Rouge the Movie Essay with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

The fact about the common wormwood is besides in the film ; Toulouse-Lautrec. Christian. and a few others take a shooting of common wormwood before they head to the Moulin Rouge one dark and the following few proceedingss of the movie are merely filled with pure daftness and hallucinations. His graphics. though. was highly of import in the success of the Moulin Rouge. “In 1891. he drew the first advertisement posting for the Moulin Rouge. which today remains the best known image of the Moulin Rouge around the world” ( History ) . His work is still celebrated today and without him the Moulin Rouge in Paris would non be every bit good known as it is today. The terpsichoreans of the Moulin Rouge were Masterss of the “cancan. ” One of the stars and besides known as “Queen of the Cancan” was Louise Weber. but her moniker was “La Goulue. ”

She is non specifically in the movie. but in a life about her. it states that. “one eventide when she was dancing a frantic cancan. between two cartwheels she spotted the Prince of Wales. who had come to pass an eventide on his ain at the Moulin Rouge. and called out. with the Parisian cheek for which she was good know. ‘Hey. Wales! The champagne’s on you? ’” ( History ) . La Goulue is relatable to Satine in the movie. because Satine was besides the star and best terpsichorean and she spotted Christian the first dark he was at that place and while she was dancing called him out in forepart of everyone who was in attending at the Moulin Rouge that flushing. Moulin Rouge is one of Baz Luhrmann’s best movies. The film came out in June 2001 and has won many awards and is one of the best films in the musical genre. The set design. costumes. casting of functions. and music all is so absolutely set together to make this superb movie.

Luhrmann. who besides co-wrote the film with Craig Pearce. traveled to Paris with Pearce and the production interior decorator to carry on historical research and compose the outline for the film. “To find ways to picture 19th century Paris and the Moulin Rouge as it may hold felt to its audience so – at the cutting border of sex. music. dance. theatre and modern thought – the film makers immersed themselves in the vicinity. locales and civilization of their story” ( Luhrmann ) . Through their research and larning about the civilization. they came to understand that the Moulin Rouge was a nine that brought all different categories together and Pearce quotes that is the equivalent of “Studio 54 in New York in the late 70’s ; a topographic point where the rich and the powerful can blend with the immature. the beautiful and the penniless” ( Luhrmann ) . This is shown in the film because we see the powerful. such as The Duke. and so Christian who is merely a author. come to the same nine to see the same thing. adult females and amusement.

The first half an hr of the film is nonstop music. dancing. visible radiations. and merely perfectly craziness. Audiences are non given a opportunity to “relax” and merely easy take the film in ; it is fast paced and keeps the film spectator on their toes merely waiting for what will come following. In a film review. shortly after it came out in 2001. the film referee describes Moulin Rouge as “grandiose. glorious. absinthe-soaked surplus. ” When cinematography. Luhrmann wanted everything to be over the top and wanted more out of the production ; more vocals. more sound. more colour. more everything ( Kaplan C. D. ) . This is what it was like in the existent nightclub. the dance and vocals were all so intense and brainsick so the work forces would be to the full entertained and ne'er acquire bored. There was a batch traveling on in Paris in the late 1880’s and 1890’s. The Eiffel Tower was built. the first cinematographic showing was shown by the Lumiere brothers. and the most celebrated nightclub opened its doors.

“The public came in mass to detect this excessive topographic point with its immense dance floor. mirrors everyplace. and galleries that were the last word in elegance. to blend with the rabble and misss of easy virtue” ( History ) . The Moulin Rouge was a topographic point for the rich and hapless work forces to come for dancing. music. and amusement from the ladies ; it is said to hold been an ambiance of “total euphory. ” This was a clip where workers. blue bloods. creative persons. and the middle-class could all gather together to see nightclubs. music-halls. and other dark clip activities. As mentioned before. this film takes topographic point during the Bohemian Revolution. This revolution was non a revolution of contending. but a revolution of art and civilization. It was a clip for artisits. poets. author. vocalists. terpsichoreans. and anyone else who wanted to show themselves to demo off their endowments and be recognized. These were the “children of the revolution” ( Moulin Rouge ) .

In the beginning scenes of Moulin Rouge. Christian is told that to truly be a kid of the revolution. he has to believe in beauty. freedom. truth. and most significantly love. Which of class he believes in love. it is what he lives for and as stated earlier. he is given the opportunity to see love for the first clip. Not merely is the film based off of the existent nightclub in Paris. but it is besides partially based on the Grecian myth of Orpheus and partially on the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi ( IMDb ) . The Grecian myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is slightly like the narrative between Christian and Satine. Orpheus is said to hold been the best instrumentalist that of all time lived and until he met Eurydice. he lived his merely and heedlessly.

Orpheus and Eurydice fell in love and it meant everything to both of them but person else wanted Eurydice’s beauty and wanted her but she did non care for this other adult male. To do a long narrative short. she ends up deceasing and Orpheus attempts to acquire her dorsum from the underworld but could non salvage her ; all he had left was the love they one time had ( “Orpheus” ) . For Christian. he lost Satine and would ne'er acquire her back once more but what he got from her decease was a narrative of true love that he has to portion with the universe. Satine was already deceasing before she fell in love with Christian. but at least she was able to decease cognizing what it was like to be in love.

The opera La Traviata is another love narrative that ends tragically. Violetta. who is a concubine. claims that love means nil to her until she meets a immature adult male named Alfredo which makes her so inquire if he could be the adult male that she could love. In the terminal of the narrative. though. Violetta is diagnosed with TB and does non hold long to populate and dies at Alfredo’s pess ( “La Traviata” ) . This opera. the myth of Orpheus. and Moulin Rouge. are all similar in the manner that the adult female ne'er truly believed in love until they met that one adult male that changed their positions on love. there are challenges to confront one the adult male and adult female autumn in love. and so it is the adult female who dies in terminal go forthing their lovers all entirely. Each narrative is a small different but the same basic thought. from the opera and Grecian myth. are evident in the movie.

From 20th century Paris. the Bohemian Revolution. the myth of Orpheus. Harold Zidler. and other historical minutes. Moulin Rouge is a 1 of a sort musical movie that is an astonishing piece of work put together by Luhrmann. Knowing the history behind the movie makes it exciting to watch and understand what it was similar back in Paris in 1899.

Plants Cited

“The History of the Moulin Rouge and its Shows. ” Moulin Rouge. Fr. Le Bal du Moulin Rouge. n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
Kaplan. C. D. Rev. of Moulin Rouge. by Baz Luhrmann. Louisville Eccentric Observer. Louisville. Ky. : 30 May 2001. Vol. 11. Iss. 30 ; pg. 21
“La Traviata. ” The Metropolitan Opera. N. p. . n. d. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Luhrmann. Baz. . and Craig Pearce. commentary. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox. 2001. Film. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox. 2001. Film.

“Moulin Rouge. ” IMDb. IMDb. com. Inc. . n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. “Orpheus and Eurydice. ” Paleothea Myths. N. p. . 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer