Moulin Rouge!

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Baz Luhrmann directs. Donald McAlpine behind the camera. Craig Armstrong scores. Jill Bilcock cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Australia, United States of America. Dialogue in French, Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Mid-budget at $53M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
• 2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
• 325 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, Spanish, English.
• 5International production across 2 countries: Australia, United States of America.
• 6210+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 7Directed by Baz Luhrmann, shot by Donald McAlpine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 8Original score by Craig Armstrong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 9Editor Jill Bilcock shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 10Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman and John Leguizamo carry the top of the cast.
• 11Marketing tagline: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love.... and be loved in return.".
• 12IMDB entry: tt0203009 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 13Classified under 24 themes, including "paris, france", "nightclub", "fairy", "courtesan".

The technical file

Cinematography

Donald McAlpine

Original score

Craig Armstrong

Editing

Jill Bilcock

Production design

Catherine Martin

Costume design

Catherine Martin

Makeup / hair

Maurizio Silvi

VFX supervisor

Chris Godfrey

Sound

Andy Nelson

Stunt coordinator

Guy Norris

Runtime

128 min · 2h 8m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$52,500,000

Box office

$179,213,434

Return

341% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Moulin Rouge! (2001) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

75% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

66/100

IMDB rating

7.6/10 · 312,853 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Also by

Baz Luhrmann

• 
  Chanel N°5: The One That I Want

  2014 · ★ 9.0
• 
  La Bohème

  1994 · ★ 8.8
• 
  EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

  2026 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Elvis

  2022 · ★ 7.4
• 
  The Great Gatsby

  2013 · ★ 7.3
• 
  The Get Down

  2016 · ★ 7.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Finding the language of the musical | A Life in Pictures | BAFTA

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Moulin Rouge! (2001) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Moulin Rouge Wins Art Direction: 2002 Oscars

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Moulin Rouge Wins Costume Design: 2002 Oscars

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• cadkaup2019-04-28
  ★ 7/10

  Moulin Rouge has many things to like about it, but comes off as inconsistent at times. All of the actors were top notch. I believe it was Nicole Kidman's best performance of her career. Ewan McGregor usually doesn't add a lot of depth to his characters, but in this movie it was ample. Jim Broadbent was charismatic and Richard Roxburgh was a very convincing pervert, right down to his posture. I liked how well they developed each of these characters. The rest of the actors were also excellent, but the story didn't lend much depth to their character, and they simply came off as a backdrop or environment for the main four, often becoming a writers convenience or becoming a set of eyes we could see through from the outside looking in. There were so many parts I enjoyed about this movie, more particularly the segments where Kidman and McGregor's relationship was explored. This made for a great second act of the movie. The first and third act I felt suffered from Baz Luhrmann's rapid, almost epileptic, editing style. His style is not not for everyone, but particularly in this movie, it didn't allow for much depth of the movie in the first and third act and came off as flashy and showy. This created pacing issues that I felt if he had slowed down and focused more on the characters instead of fitting as many shots into the move that he could, the story would have flowed a lot better. The other major inconsistency of the movie was the theme it was building towards, and the theme it ultimately landed on. Throughout the entire movie, they are building a theme of faith in love no matter what the outcome, but the last minute and a half of the movie turns it into a tragedy that I felt was unwarranted and unearned. This would have been a palpable ending if the movie showed the characters doubting that maybe love wasn't enough, and then a tragedy strikes that proves the point. But instead we have the ending segment that shows us that all this guy's belief in love was absolutely for not, and that we are left to assume he must have been faking his belief the entire time, because it sure didn't seem like enough for him. This isn't about always getting a happy ending, it's about not getting an ending that was a cheap and quick way to evoke a particular emotion in the audience without really building into. It felt rushed, and again, unearned. (And I'm not talking about the actual event, but more about how the event affected the character.) Otherwise, I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did. An excellent second act with outstanding performances and likable characters, but with the pacing issues and inconsistencies in building a movie that naturally flowed from one idea to the next keeps me from rating it higher. All in all, though, a fairly enjoyable and rewatch able film nonetheless.

  Read full review ↓
• Peter89Spencer2021-02-14
  ★ 9/10

  I could go on why I enjoyed this film - heck, I reviewed this 3 times on Letterbox! But the one simple word I can best describe Moulin Rouge, is poignant. This film give a poignant feeling whenever I get the chance to see this it. The glits, the glamour, the music & the story. This is the perfect love story. Ewan McGreggor and Nicole Kidman were terrific. I recommend this film as a Valentine's treat!

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2024-07-06
  ★ 7/10

  "Christian" (Ewan McGregor) is a struggling writer living a stone's throw from the legendary Moulin Rouge in Paris. He cuts quite a solitary figure until he is befriended by "Toulouse-Lautrec" (the scene stealing John Leguizamo) and introduced to the hedonism of the club run by "Zidler" (Jim Broadbent) that features it's superstar turn "Satine" (Nicole Kidman). He is besotted, he must meet her in her blue elephant apartment and love must follow, surely? Well, maybe, but "Zidler" has other plans on behalf of the seedy "Duke" (Richard Roxburgh) who has determined to make her his. "Christian" now finds himself inspired, and sets about writing his "Spectacular Spectacular" piece of musical theatre that thinly disguises the burgeoning romance between the pair whilst hopefully throwing the "Duke" off the scent. These things are expensive, though, so the venal "Zidler" ends up having to do a deal with the devil to pay the bill - and that leaves everyone exposed to the lasciviousness of the amorous aristocrat. We also learn that, not unusual for the late 19th century, "Satine" isn't so well and so time might not be much of an ally for them, either. Can they thwart the lecherous "Duke" and save their love? Though I didn't really love McGregor's rather flat singing so much, the rest of this is an highly entertaining romp through a tawdry Parisian society riddled with sexiness, vibrancy and just a little hint of evil. Broadbent is in his element as the master of ceremonies who'd have looked just as impressive hosting a circus - and indeed it's a circus that his boozed up and horny guests want every night as the original sex-club comes alive with colour, dancing and champagne. The soundtrack works really well using just about everyone from Rufus Wainwright to Elton John via Broadway and T-Rex - even Kylie manages a tinker-bell of a cameo. The film looks great, with huge attention to the detail of the look; the costumes and the set - with the perilously poised pachyderm overhead. There's heaps of chemistry between McGregor and a very natural looking Kidman and two hours just flies by. It's one of those films that positively wallows on the big screen and each time I see it, I seem to get just a little bit more from the humour and the pathos in the writing. Original, quirky, zany and good fun.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

• 

  Bazmark

  AU

Key crew

• CastingRonna Kress
• Art DirectionAnnie Beauchamp
• Costume DesignCatherine Martin
• CastingChristine King
• Costume DesignAngus Strathie
• ProducerFred Baron
• Production DesignCatherine Martin
• ProducerMartin Brown
• Set DecorationBrigitte Broch
• ProducerBaz Luhrmann
• EditorJill Bilcock
• Assistant CameraMatt Toll
• Focus PullerDamian Wyvill
• Second Second Assistant DirectorDeborah Antoniou
• StuntsNash Edgerton
• Clapper LoaderJason Binnie
• Steadicam OperatorPatrick McArdle
• StuntsScotty Gregory
• Camera OperatorDarrin Keough
• Focus PullerFrank Hruby
• Second Unit First Assistant DirectorNaomi Enfield
• StuntsAshley Fairfield
• StuntsGlenn Suter
• Graphic DesignerBeth Pickworth

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• paris, france
• nightclub
• fairy
• courtesan
• duke
• musical
• poet
• terminal illness
• love
• writer
• prostitution
• death
• illness
• rouge
• tuberculosis
• bohemian
• dance hall
• 19th century
• 1900s
• belle epoque
• jukebox musical
• romantic
• amused
• moulin rouge

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2001-05-18PG-13· New York City, New York / Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical2001-06-01PG-13
• Physical2010-10-19PG-13· Blu-ray
• Physical2001-12-18PG-13· DVD

Also known as

International titles

• 물랑 루즈KR
• Мулен Руж!RU
• মুলাঁ রুজ!IN