Quick Recap: This is the story of Christian, a penniless writer, who falls in love with Satine, a whore. She dies and it’s really sad. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love.

Sorry, got a little carried away with quoting the movie. *

*- I’m not sorry.

This post will be quite Ewan Mcgregor heavy as well. Deal with it.

Fun (!!!) Fact: It took Baz Luhrmann almost two years to secure all of the rights to the songs used in the film.

My thoughts: I won’t try to hide the fact that this is My. Favorite. Movie. Ever. I have watched ‘Moulin Rouge’ no less than at least 100 times by now. When the number came up on my random generator that tells me what to watch next, I had initially decided to skip watching this movie again because I can practically quote the entire thing. However, after a hellish week I went ahead and watched it in its entirety. It’s impossible for me to analyze the film at the point because I am so biased.

One of my many reasons for bias

Instead, I’m going to approach this film on two points: 1) Does the movie still hold up for me 12 years later and 2) why I love it so much.

So first of all, yes this film completely holds up. I still love the musical numbers and I still love Ewan. I love all of the visual effects and the costumes.I love the manic pace at first, much like the energy you feel at the beginning of a relationship. I am still struck by all of the emotional scenes, although I no longer Ugly Cry at the end. I swooned when Ewan began to sing ‘Your Song’, much like I did when I first saw him belt out that first note many years ago. I fell head over heels all over again during the scene when Christian and Satine are making out around the corridor, a few feet away from The Duke. The entire exchange seems so authentic and believable. I was hooked after that.

gratuitous Ewan

Which leads me to my second reflection: why I love this movie so much. And as expected, I don’t have an answer. Maybe it was because I was 16 years old at the time and completely naive about all things love. Up until then, love was a faraway concept; it was something nice that I could have when I was ready. But then ‘Moulin Rouge’ presented it in a completely different way. Love is ugly. Love consumes you. Love and jealousy go hand in hand. I feel like by watching this movie, I crossed the threshold of being a silly teenager to having real thoughts and real dreams. And now that I have been in relationships and had my share of heartache, I can understand this movie on a different level. It still impacts me and I still identify with it.

jealous Ewan

Final review: 5/5 and 1/5. This movie has always been my litmus test for future relationships. I’ve found that you either get it and love ‘Moulin Rouge’, or you don’t and loathe it. Baz Luhrmann’s style can seem overwhelming at times and if that bothers you, just know that the pace will slow down at some point and you are left with a tragic love story.

Where I watched it: And here’s where my fangirl personality comes back- I own two copies of the DVD as well as a downloaded version on my computer.

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