2009.10.19. Romantic Musicals: Moulin Rouge

Romantic Musicals:  Moulin Rouge (2001)

Presentation Script


PPT slide 1 Introduction
The main story line of the movie, Moulin Rouge, is about love, but we are going to focus on its background to investigate the culture at that time, instead of the love story.

PPT slide 2 Inspiration
The director got the inspiration from the Greek Story – Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus is a poet and musician; the director gave the actor (Christian) in Moulin Rouge the same role as Orpheus. Both Orpheus and Christian tried their best to save their lovers from the danger. Orpheus went to the hell to bring his wife back to life, and in the movie, Christian tried to help his lover, Satine, fly way from the Moulin Rouge. Although Satine was the most popular singer, no one really cared about her. At first, she considered Moulin Rouge was like her home as her charms made every man fall in love with her.  The owner of the Moulin Rouge treated her well, providing all the things she wanted in the best quaqlity.  However, till she met Christian, she realized what she wanted was true love, not indulging in the fame. Hence, Christian planned to take Satine away from Moulin Rouge and start a new life with her. In 2001, the famous song Orpheus in the Underworld was applied to the movie, Moulin Rouge. The end of song was also the well-known Can-can dance song.

PPT slide 3 Background:
The failure of Franco-Prussian War caused a huge depression in France. There were many scandals at that time, and economy crisis was one of the problems, too. Hence, people couldn’t keep the faith in such a decadent life. People had hard time then.  In order to find a way to unleash, people learnt to replace their empty heart by the Hedonism. They pursued luxurious life and indulged themselves in sensual pleasure. Hence, going to a night club had become common phenomena in Paris at that time. But this kind of life did not represent that they could escape from the depression, they did not truly enjoy their lives at all. People gathered in a night club, talking without eye-contact and absent-minded showed endless sorrows and desperation even more.


PPT slide 4 Background:
The Moulin Rouge was built because of the international exposition. By building Moulin Rouge the French wanted to boost their tourism. Montmartre was famous for its vineyard; hence, there were bars (pubs) and Moulin (Moulin is the combination of club and café concert.) appeared. In the late 19 century, Montmartre has become the perfect place for people to enjoy nightlife. The creation of Moulin Rouge brought up the entertainment industry. Thieves, prostitutes, writers, dancers, singers, and Gypsy all gathered in the Moulin Rouge. Thieves, artist and writers wanted to have fun. Dancers and singers searched the chance to become a real actress. The Gypsy wanted to pursue their beliefs. Moulin became not only a place to dance but also a place for the young to socialize.


PPT slide 5 Artist-Renoir:
Famous artists like Renoir once stayed in here for about half year to enjoy the joyful atmosphere. Here is one of the paintings about the Moulin and it is also the most remarkable one.

PPT slide 6 Features-Red windmill:
The red windmill is the most identifiable feature of the Moulin Rouge. Till now, it is still working with the seasons changes, it evoke people’s memories of the old time and their desires.


PPT slide 7 Features-Elephant house:
There are a lot of scenes which presented in the elephant house. There are two possible explanations for the meaning of the elephant. Traced back to the Min dynasty, there are lion house, leopard house, elephant house and so on. They used to be places to keep dangerous animals but later on they became a place for the emperor to have fun with women. Maybe in the Moulin Rouge, the Duke is the symbolic emperor who has the power to dominate the financial support of Moulin Rouge. Another explanation is that the elephant is a symbol of dignity. In order to show his cherish for Satine so Zidler arranged Satine to live in the elephant house because Satine is the most popular singer in the Moulin Rouge. And for the duke, he is in the high class of the social rank. Zidler wanted to show his reverence for the duke hence he arranged the duke to use the elephant house.

PPT slide 8-13  Beauty, Truth, and Freedom
The movie is about Freedom, beauty, truth, and love. Freedom from Moulin Rouge and beauty belong to satin, true for Christian and the love is the greatest love between satin and Christian.


Satin was always beautiful, seeing her sparkling like a diamond on the velvet of the swing. She had smooth skin, her vibrant red hair, and her full lips. All she has to do is send a single glance in their direction, and they're lost forever to dream of possessing her. When, in fact, it is her eyes that possess them. And so it continues for many years, and she is as cold and lovely as the diamonds they compare her to and shower her with.

Until one day, she meets an eager young poet Christine. The warmth of his breath is a spring breeze to melt the last of winter's frost. She feels herself being caught in that same web with which she has trapped many others.
Nicole Kidman went from being just another actress to me to one of my favorites - she takes on the role of Satin so honestly and proves that she not only has a comedic side but a great voice as well. Together the two of them light up the screen.

Bohemia


The setting of the film is at a bohemian village in Paris in the nineteenth century. Christian was born at a bourgeois family. He went to the village which his father called it “the village of sin” seeking the artistic atmosphere for inspiration. You all know of bohemian style. But do you really know what bohemia is? Originally Bohemia is just an area in west Czech, and the bohemian actually means the gypsy living in Bohemia. Gradually bohemian is described as marginalized artists, writers, and musicians those who live in poverty and have an unconventional way of life.

The bohemian depreciates almost everything that represents bourgeois. The main conflicts between bohemian and bourgeois are that the later supports practical achievements in life, while the former stresses the importance of emotions. In bohemian value, a man’s dignity depends neither on his wealth nor on his material property. To them, cottage and jewelry are the symbols of arrogance and philistinism. Truth, beauty, freedom, and love are their spirit. Just like what Christian, the leading actor, said that “Above all things I believe in love. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Christian tells Satine what the truth of love and beauty of life are, and he wakes her innerness up and set her free from her material world. Therefore Satine turns down the Duke who symbolizes wealth and power. Though she finally died in the stage, she died with complete love, mind and freedom. That’s what bohemian spirit is.

Comparision the past and now  
The performers
Past:
1)They are just beautiful girls who can sing and dance.
2)Girls consider performing in the Moulin Rouge is a way to make a living.  They are there to  please rich   men or tycoons.
Now:
1)They are well-trained ballet dancers. The age limitation is 16 to 25.

   They should be tall, slender and slim.
2)Girls consider being able to be selected as performers in the Moulin Rouge as a miracle.

    Performing in the Moulin Rouge seemed to be a chance for the performers to become famous actress and
    singers.
Past and Now:
1)There costumes do not change from the past till now.


2)They wear only some feathers and metal spangles.

3)They don’t wear bras.

The audience
Past: All the audience wants to go there to watch some shows that please them and maybe find someone beautiful to get with at night.
Now:Audience goes to Moulin Rouge to admire the culture. They do not go to there just for fun. They want to know more about Paris and its culture.



Can-Can Dance

PPT slide 2 Origins


In 1889, people paid much attention on not only Moulin Rouge but also Can-Can dance. It has become famous since Second Empire. At first, it was just a kind of cheerful dance which was popular at blue collar level. And then more and more cabarets had Can-Can dance performance. At that time, cabarets supplied alcohol and places in the middle of cabarets for customers to dance. Besides, there were performances with Can-Can music. Dancers lifted their skirts and danced “quadrille” (a kind of dancing movement) extemporaneously. Although going to cabarets and watching Can-Can performance was a really popular leisure activity that time, it was not for the high class people.

PPT slide 3 Performance

Now, it is about their performances. They are a group of well-training can-can dancers. Although retaining some improvisations, they needed more very difficult dancing skills and physical strength. The main movements were the high kick (it means quick rotary movement of lower leg with knee raised and skirt held up), and the next one is the port d'armes (turning on one leg, while grasping the other leg by the ankle and holding it almost), the next is lifting up skirt, and the next one is the cartwheel and the grand écart (it means that the flying or jump splits). Furthermore, it has become common practice for dancers to scream and yelp while performing the can-can, but this was by no means essential. On the other hand, the entertainers showed their shank sometimes that could tease viewers’ sense organs more.

PPT slide 5 Strip Show

At first, Can-Can was a kind of social folk dance in Europe originally. However, after adaption by a British, it became a type of performance. It was really popular when it was transited to France. As time went by, it was called French Can-Can. Can-Can dancers always had good figures. When they performed, their skirts floated in the air which drew people’s attention. They wore only a piece of skirt, and it might reveal their legs and underwear easily. Sometimes they just wore without underwear and occasionally revealed their genitals. Strip shows originated from Can-Can dance which Moulin Rouge was famous for. It was a performance which made performance watchers, always were men, feel pleasant. However, nowadays, Strip dancers think that performing strip show is a profession. Also, it is a performance art.

PPT slide 6 Dress & Accerssories

And it’s about dress and accessories. Nowadays, the dressings and adornments don’t change too much. The basic accessories and dressings are like this. They have feathers, sheet mental and hats. Skirts are like this and there are petticoats. There are also stockings like this and hats like this or this one. And, this is a bodice. It can be with or without sleeves. These two are overskirts. This one is a bustle and it’s always on the back of the skirt.