Moulin Rouge! was a whirlwind of a film, an extravagant assault on the senses that reinvigorated the musical. The doomed love affair between Satine (Nicole Kidman), a glamorous cabaret star and courtesan, and Christian (Ewan McGregor), an impoverished English poet, in turn-of-the-century Paris plays out in feverish song-and-dance numbers made up of medleys of iconic pop songs.<\/p>\n
By the time it was released in 2001, the Australian director Baz Luhrmann<\/a> had already perfected his signature style with Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet \u2013 a blend of frantic editing, over-the-top visuals and contemporary music. Moulin Rouge! \u2013 the final film in his Red Curtain trilogy \u2013 took this up a notch.<\/p>\n Despite mixed reviews, it went on to become a huge box office success and, in 2002, became the first musical to receive a best picture Oscar nomination since Beauty and the Beast in 1991.<\/p>\n Here, the cast and crew talk about their favourite memories of working on the film, and why it has endured as a modern classic.<\/p>\n Director Baz Luhrmann: \u2018Nicole owned the role.\u2019 Photograph: Antonio Olmos\/The Observer<\/p>\n After adapting Romeo and Juliet in 1996, Luhrmann decided to make a musical dedicated to one of the most famous venues in Paris: the Moulin Rouge<\/a> in Montmartre.<\/p>\n Baz Luhrmann<\/strong>: <\/strong>In the 70s, when I was growing up, musicals were considered a joke. I loved them \u2026 There was a time when I was going to set Moulin Rouge! in Studio 54. I guess Toulouse-Lautrec would have been Andy Warhol. But then I realised that would be too fashionable.<\/p>\n Auditions were held in Sydney, Australia, with Luhrmann holding a series of workshops involving singing, movement exercises and table reads.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>:<\/strong> The amount of young actors that came in, most of whom are now absolute icons \u2026 I remember Heath Ledger coming in, and he was quite wonderful, just too young.<\/p>\n Jim Broadbent<\/strong> (who played Harold Zidler<\/strong>, owner of the Moulin Rouge): <\/strong>When Baz offered me the part, I said I wasn\u2019t a singer. He said: \u201cWe can always add somebody else\u2019s voice to the operatic numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>:<\/strong> I saw Nicole in a play on Broadway. I sent her some roses and said [in the message]: \u201cShe sings, she dances, she dies [referring to Satine]\u201d. She came in and we workshopped. She owned the role. She worked so hard on her vocals and dancing.<\/p>\n Christine Anu, Caroline O\u2019Connor, Jim Broadbent, Natalie Mendoza and Lara Mulcahy in Moulin Rouge! Photograph: Everett Collection Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n Lara Mulcahy (who played<\/strong> M\u00f4me Fromage<\/strong>, <\/strong>one of the Diamond Dogs, the dancers at the Moulin Rouge):<\/strong> I was in Strictly Ballroom, so when this came up, I said to my agent: \u201cPlease put me up for it.\u201d I did [the audition] via video. We had to learn a couple of dance routines and we had to sing a song as well.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: I met Ewan in the workshop process on Romeo + Juliet. He was almost Mercutio, actually, and then I changed Mercutio [to be] an African American drag queen. The thing about Ewan was, right out of the gate, his vocal power. He was a real singer.<\/p>\n Jacek Koman (who played<\/strong> the Unconscious Argentinean<\/strong>, a performer suffering from narcolepsy):<\/strong> It was quite an informal meeting. Baz was running around with a little camera, and I was prancing around.<\/p>\n After everyone was cast, there was a period of intense rehearsal at Iona, a building owned by Luhrmann in Sydney.<\/p>\n From left: John Leguizamo, Garry McDonald, Matthew Whittet, Jim Broadbent, Nicole Kidman and Jacek Koman. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n JK<\/strong>:<\/strong> It felt a bit like drama school. We felt really supported and inspired. You could always pop in to watch someone else\u2019s dance training or singing. We would meet for lunch together, dozens of us. Every Friday, we had show and tell \u2013 we watched dance routines and acting scenes evolve.<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> The choreographer had a certain amount of anxiety working with me. Then we discovered some sort of jokey jazz dancing that I could do. He said: \u201cI can work with that!\u201d<\/p>\n Filming started at Fox Studios in Sydney in November 1999 and ran until May 2000, with a budget of US$50m.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: [My dad, Leonard] died on the first day. I delayed the shoot for 10 days \u2013 I\u2019ve never done it before in my life, where I put work second to something else. The last thing Dad said to me, because he was dying from cancer, was just make sure you do your very best. So I went back with that attitude. [The film is dedicated to him.]<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> I had a lot of padding, a fake beard and a wig put on every day. It was physically uncomfortable.<\/p>\n LM<\/strong>: For our big main entrance, I remember Baz going: \u201cNo, more, I want more!\u201d He wanted big performances. I laugh now because I see some shots and my mouth is open wide, swallowing the camera like a tiger.<\/p>\n Catherine Martin<\/strong> (<\/strong>associate producer<\/strong>, <\/strong>production designer<\/strong>, <\/strong>co-costume designer and Luhrmann\u2019s wife<\/strong>):<\/strong> One of our biggest extras days was about 350 people. We made an enormous amount of costumes, in excess of 1,000.<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019d see him with his lightsaber\u2019 \u2026 McGregor, who was also working on Star Wars: Episode II during the filming of Moulin Rouge! Photograph: United Archives GmbH\/Alamy<\/p>\n Craig Armstrong<\/strong> (composer):<\/strong> Baz will ask anybody for their advice. Even the assistants making coffee. He\u2019s very democratic.<\/p>\n The cast spent the time between takes getting to know each other.<\/p>\n JK<\/strong>:<\/strong> Jim would offer us his stash of Cuban cigars. Some scenes took a while to reset, so we had a lot of time to muck around \u2013 Ewan is a strong force in that department.<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> I had an air-conditioning unit pumping cold air into my suit to keep me cool, so there wasn\u2019t much running around off set.<\/p>\n LM<\/strong>:<\/strong> I spent a lot of time in the wig room with Nicole. She was lovely \u2013 she bought me beautiful perfume on my birthday. She was happy to chat and have a laugh.<\/p>\n CA<\/strong>:<\/strong> As the film went on, Ewan started working on Star Wars [Episode II \u2013 Attack of the Clones, filmed at the same studio]. So you\u2019d walk out of the Moulin Rouge! set, and you\u2019d see McGregor with his lightsaber.<\/p>\n CM<\/strong>:<\/strong> We would have parties, and we\u2019d take over the garden and put a dancefloor on the grass \u2013 it was great fun.<\/p>\n Kidman threw herself into the role \u2013 and kept getting injured on set.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: Nicole would have not a bar of it, not being on that swing [we meet Satine for the first time as she is lowered down on a trapeze in the Moulin Rouge]. She said: \u201cYou need to believe that it\u2019s me.\u201d We rigged her up and she had a harness.<\/p>\n CM<\/strong>:<\/strong> We\u2019re not quite sure how the first cracked rib happened. She came back to work. Her doctors, who were there, were saying: \u201cThe corset will be great.\u201d When we were lacing her in tightly, we broke her rib again.<\/p>\n \u2018They had to do all that singing in the air\u2019 \u2026 Kidman and McGregor. Photograph: 20th Century Fox\/Allstar<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: Nicole had this moment where she had to come down the stairs. She slipped. There\u2019s a scene where she\u2019s in a wheelchair because she\u2019d really busted her ankle. She was on crutches for a bit. It wasn\u2019t easy but she is the definition of a trouper.<\/p>\n A 60ft elephant was created with the actors filmed on top of it, strapped in to harnesses.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: They had to do all that singing in the air. Props to Ewan and Nicole for fearlessly running around out there with this stunt.<\/p>\n CM<\/strong>:<\/strong> Star Wars needed to move in [to the studio]. The great elephant was felled by a bulldozer. It was really emotional.<\/p>\n Filming the song-and-dance number Like a Virgin, where Zidler is trying to convince the Duke of Monroth (Richard Roxburgh) of Satine\u2019s charms, was challenging.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: I thought I would never get the scene, because the guys would come in \u2013 it was a glass floor \u2013 and they were just falling everywhere. We put Coca-Cola all over the floor to make it sticky.<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> Some of my singing was dubbed and some of it wasn\u2019t. A lot of Like a Virgin was me.<\/p>\n The Unconscious Argentinean\u2019s thrilling rendition of El Tango de Roxanne, a mashup of the Police\u2019s Roxanne with Mariano Mores\u2019s Tanguera, took several days to film with four camera crews.<\/p>\n JK<\/strong>: <\/strong>It was not a given that I would be singing. There were other plans, including a few famous vocalists. Just for a joke in one of the songs I used this sort of Mongolian throat singing. Marius De Vries, the music director, said: \u201cTry singing Roxanne.\u201d So I roared: \u201cRo-o-oxanne.\u201d The rest is history.<\/p>\n John Leguizamo was cast as the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was left with a short stature as a result of breaking both his legs as a teen.<\/p>\n McGregor with John Leguizamo, who plays the artist Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge! Photograph: Maximum Film\/Alamy<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: We made these prosthetic legs, and he could kneel in them. He learned to make it look as if he was walking with sticks.<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> He was known on set as Johnny Legs. It must have been very hard for him. I never heard him moan about it. He\u2019s a great guy.<\/p>\n The film had a lavish premiere in May 2001, when it opened the Cannes film festival.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: We did can-can dancers from the Moulin Rouge on the steps.<\/p>\n CM<\/strong>:<\/strong> The first time I saw the film I remember being absolutely floored by it. I thought: I\u2019m seeing something so new. It felt like this cinematic poetry that was challenging the boundaries of what a movie could be.<\/p>\n CA<\/strong>:<\/strong> At the end of the premiere, there was quite a big silence. Then people did start clapping. I remember thinking: \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t everybody totally love this?\u201d<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: We had a big dinner, and the first reviews were out. We got this one great review and the next review was just so scathing. It was very split in Cannes. Nicole just said: \u201cListen, we know what we\u2019ve made, soldier on.\u201d We had a screening in London, and I sat next to Prince Charles and he was very complimentary.<\/p>\n Moulin Rouge! went on to gross $179m at the worldwide box office. A cover of Lady Marmalade recorded for the soundtrack, featuring Christina Aguilera, M\u00fda, Pink and Lil\u2019 Kim, was a No 1 hit in the UK and US. The film was nominated for eight Oscars in 2002 including best picture.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: I knew when I chose to pursue my own way of telling stories, you\u2019re not going to be embraced as a director \u2013 I have come to peace with that. Was I chuffed that Whoopi [Goldberg, host of the 2002 Oscars] <\/strong>called it the film that \u201cdirected itself\u201d? [A pointed reference to Luhrmann not getting a best director nomination.] Yeah, I was really touched.<\/p>\n The film won two Oscars: best art direction (shared by Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch) and best costume design (for Martin and Angus Strathie).<\/p>\n CM<\/strong>:<\/strong> After the ceremony we ended up in the penthouse at the Chateau Marmont, having this party that just descended into a Moulin Rouge-esque party. I remember at 6am sitting with my best friend on the couch \u2013 somebody making out beside us, people still dancing like crazy \u2013 and having a hot chocolate and toast in my pyjamas. The Oscars were being paraded around \u2013 people were doing unspeakable things to them. It was a really joyous evening \u2026 Baz was so supportive and excited.<\/p>\n The film remains a much-loved classic and ranked 53rd in a BBC poll of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century<\/a> in 2016. It was adapted for the stage in 2018 and continues to tour around the world.<\/p>\n From left, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin and Craig Pearce, the film\u2019s co-writer, arriving at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2002. Photograph: Evan Agostini\/Getty Images<\/p>\n JK<\/strong>:<\/strong> People still come up to me on the street occasionally, which shocks me, because I certainly do not look anything like the narcoleptic Argentinian now. They often say: \u201cRoxanne was the best thing in the film.\u201d I love hearing it.<\/p>\n LM<\/strong>:<\/strong> I coach actors. Their parents are like: \u201cOh, my God, you\u2019re in Moulin Rouge!\u201d It\u2019s such a part of our film history, particularly in Australia. It\u2019s a film that everyone, even if they don\u2019t like it, they all know it and the effect that it had.<\/p>\n JB<\/strong>:<\/strong> It\u2019s an exciting film, and the energy comes across on the screen \u2013 the imagination, the music, the performances and the whole design leave a lasting impression.<\/p>\n BL<\/strong>: Twenty-odd years ago, people said the musical will never be popular again. I like our little contribution in smashing the door open.<\/p>\n Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section, please click here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moulin Rouge! was a whirlwind of a film, an extravagant assault on the senses that reinvigorated the musical.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-941324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}