Watched: Moulin Rouge!
I was in love with the slower beats of this film; the stunning rendition of Come What May at the end, Your Song, and One Day I’ll Fly Away all made me choke up and sniff like a baby. I’m aware that rules out a lot of the ridiculous bombast of the rest of the film, and that’s something I had a more complicated relationship with.
There are a lot of times where the frenetic pace feels deserved - when the doors to the Moulin Rouge first open, an assault on the senses is entirely appropriate. My problems fell more with the portrayal of Christian’s bohemian companions, and how they were professing to be obsessed with lofty ideals while acting like cartoon characters. It fit with the aesthetic of the film, but bodily mutilation fits with the aesthetic of torture porn. That doesn’t mean it’s good.
That said, watching Jim Broadbent’s transformation as Harold from a sweating maniac into someone altogether more sensitive was immensely rewarding to watch, and every clear-cut musical number (there are a lot of motifs that echo in and out) is a delight, right down to Broadbent aping Madonna in a stunningly different version of Like A Virgin. The best moments, though, are when the beat dies down and the raw honesty in the voices comes through. It’s to the film’s credit that it has plenty of opportunities to do so, and doesn’t squander any of them.
I still feel like it might be a bit racist, though. But I suppose most white people were at the turn of the 20th century.