I first saw Moulin Rouge, I believe, around the time it was released and I thought it was great because of all the singing, dancing, and lavish costumes. Because I liked it so much I watched it every so often and its one of those movies that gets better every time you see it. Now, analyzing it in class, I love it so much more.
I can better understand the symbolism from the windmill. It show Satine’s life. In the beginning she’s full of life, and ambitious to become a real actress. She’s energetic and ready to do whatever Harold Zidler tells her to do. During all of this the windmill is vibrant, colorful, and spins fairly fast, but as the movie goes on it starts to dim and slow down to the point where its completely stopped and appears black and white in a color movie. When this is happening, Satine starts thinking for herself and doesn’t want to be the woman Zidler has transformed her into. Also, she starts dying and when she does die, thats when the windmill shuts down symbolising Satine is no longer living.
The entire movie is foreshadowed through the play. All of the conflicts, characters, and plot are played out by the people going through the struggles of the movie. I think its pretty clever and funny because the characters are so wrapped up in love they don’t see what’s right in front of them. For example, how the Duke believes all the lies Christian and Satine tell him why the need to spend so much time together. Its understandable for them to have to spend some time with each other because they are the writer and lead actress, but the Duke should have known something was up when they were spending every night “rehearsing” together.
One of the final scenes in the movie when all the actors and performers are behind the curtain devastated by Satine’s death and the camera moves to show the crowd on the other side of the curtain giving them a standing ovation and cheering for them, I believe captures what the whole movie is about. It shows that behind all of the glitz, glamour, lights, makeup, and costumes theres so much suffering that no one knows about or was even aware of. Satine didn’t even know she was dying until the night before she died, and Christian, I believe, knew she was sick but had no idea of the severity of it. He wanted to plan the rest of his life with her, but she died before they could even get out of the Moulin Rouge, and I think thats why this movie is so tragically wonderful. They didn’t end up together, but they learned to love and they were loved in return.
