Moulin Rouge! (12A)

Time Out says

Another post-modern mix of myth, musical, comedy, romance and unfettered pastiche from the impressively inventive Luhrmann, here ransacking pop culture's iconographic archives - rather than the real Paris of 1900 - to mount a hyperkinetic update of the Orpheus myth. Naive, lovelorn writer/composer Christian (McGregor) is taken up by bohemians like Toulouse-Lautrec to put on a show at the scandalous showplace of the title, where courtesan/torch singer Satine (Kidman) will do anything - even sleep with a dodgy Duke - to further her acting career, especially if pressed by the club proprietor (Broadbent) - until, that is, she meets Christian, and her heart melts. A Red Shoes-style fable of love and art in conflict with commerce and power, it's luridly stunning to look at even if it's cut a little too quickly and insistently for its own good. It's also jam-packed with allusions and gags, and performed with enormous gusto. If it lacks the emotional punch of Luhrmann's earlier films, and drags towards the end, it is still great fun.

Author: GA