Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge has been a favorite movie of mine since the sixth grade... but WHY?

It is one of those movies that people either love and highly recommend, or it is a movie that people strongly dislike.

Using aesthetic analysis, I will see why this movie has drawn me in.

First off, the lighting and colors, for example are beautiful. The lighting is eclectic ranging from natural lighting to chiaroscuro lighting, depending on how dramatic or comedic the scene is. The colors are highly saturated, and combined with the light, make the colors of the costumes and set accentuated so that they pop out and look rich and absolutely stunning.

The shots in general are beautifully composed. There is a wide range of shots from aerial shots to close ups, but a commonality of the shots are that they are all very smooth, almost like a dream. This could be because the majority of the movie is a flashback. I do not think there is actually a single shot in the movie that is handheld. Also, even if there is a close up on an actor, there is something visually stunning happening in the background as well. There is a lot of depth to the shots and each time I watch the film, there is something new that I notice every time, and I have literally seen this movie close to a hundred times...

What makes these already incredible looking shots look better yet is the editing. It is a different and distinct editing style that messes frequently with time and motion. There are a lot of fast zooms and quick cuts that capture the frantic and energetic essence of the Moulin Rouge. The characters are shown   speeding up their movements to make a task such as turning a well-furnished bedroom into a mini-theater happen within seconds, and then in another scene, there is a transition from flashback to the present by way of slowing down a windmill's spinning to show the passage of time.

And then there's the music... This is a point where a few people might lose interest in Moulin Rouge. The music consists almost entirely of covers sung by the lead actor and actress. I believe there is actually only one song in the entire movie that was made exclusively for the film called 'Come What May.' The movie is a series of covered love songs, but I think if there only was original music, I would most likely have liked the film a bit less.

Finally, there's the story. It is an incredible story about 'Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and Love.' It is about a young English writer who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, Satine. However, they have to hide their love because she has to make the Duke, the financier, believe she is in love with him in order for her dreams to be realized so that she can become a 'real' actress. Nonetheless, the movie's most famous quote is "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return" and by the end this is fully realized.

It is a movie that I recommend watching at least once.