Sightlines · reception
How Moulin Rouge! was received
2001 · Baz Luhrmann · Moulin Rouge! on Sightlines
The arc
It opened Cannes 2001 to genuinely split reviews — the hyper-caffeinated editing was called everything from exhilarating to unwatchable — yet it landed eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Now it's credited with single-handedly reviving the movie musical, clearing the runway for Chicago and two decades of jukebox shows.
What’s debated
The eternal fight is over the first twenty minutes: is the strobe-cut maximalism a bold overture that filters out cowards, or proof Luhrmann won't hold a shot long enough to let you feel anything?
Its footprint
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return" became a yearbook-quote staple, the Elephant Love Medley and El Tango de Roxanne live forever on playlists and in edits, and the film spawned a Broadway adaptation that won the Tony for Best Musical.
Where it stands
The capstone of Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy and a Letterboxd sleepover classic — the movie musical people who claim to hate musicals will still go to bat for.
Did you know? "Come What May," the film's only original love song, was ruled ineligible for the Best Original Song Oscar — because Luhrmann had originally written it for Romeo + Juliet.