Moulin Rouge is the most recent offering of eclectic director Baz Luhrmann (You might recognize him as the director of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and the radio version of the (pseudo) graduation speech attributed to Kurt Vonnegut that came to be known as Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen).).

It's the story of a young writer named Christian played by Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, The Phanton Menace), motivated by an abstract passion for an even more abstract notion of love, which transcends all human experience. This passion causes him to leave England for Paris where he might learn to love and be loved in return. He conveniently meets Satine, played by Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut, Far and Away), with whom he instantly falls in love. Their love is, however, not to be had so easily. Simple and predictable plot complications (Satine is a prostitute and a rich bad guy Duke also loves Satine) add to a sort of storybook quality about the film.

While the story line is nothing short of rehashed, the film succeeds through exploiting its strengths. The scenery of turn-of-the-century Bohemian Paris is beautiful; Luhrmann's use of color sets mood and enlivens the film throughout. Of course, the most memorable aspects of the film are the vocal performances delivered by McGregor and Kidman. I'm not into buying soundtracks, but I confess that I've considered it. It turns out McGregor has a lovely voice. Other notable performances were put in by John Leguizamo (The Summer of Sam, Spawn) and Jim Broadbent (Bridget Jones' Diary, Topsy-Turvy).

I particularly enjoyed was the story within a story within a story aspect of the film. The main story line is told in retrospection through the writing endeavor of the lovelost Christian. However, the opening and closing scenes (in which a curtain opens and closes respectively about the film, an orchestra conductor flailing to the rythym of the pit) of the film give credibility to this approach by displaying the films awareness of its meta-consciousness.

Moulin Rouge takes a simple, some might say overdone, story line brings it to life through an imaginative telling. I think the gun scene in the end of the film was a bit on the cheesy side, but then, it may have been Luhrmann's offering to screen audiences a chance to dry their eyes before the final denoument.