Ok... I have been into Moulin Rogue for a while now. I guess you could say that it's my second favorite musical besides Phantom of the Opera. It shall always be number one. Then Moulin Rogue, and then Jekyll and Hyde.
Hmm... *looks at that little list* I see a pattern... Good love stories that have tragic endings... I'm a sucker for those, I guess. Ok, ok. I'm a sap. No, wait... A sap would be someone who adores happy endings. I like tragic ones. Ok... Call me twisted then. *evil grin*
Anyway... I had wanted to see the movie, thinking it would be a regular movie about the story behind the whole Moulin Rouge thing, expecting a movie like any other movie Nicole Kidman would have been in. Never did I expect a musical, of all things.
So mom, thinking the same thing, had bought it, and we watched it a few months ago. But then... as I watched it... something happened. It wasn't an ordinary movie. They... They had started singing! Well, that turned mom's attention away from it, whereas mine had me glued to the screen.
But more than that, it was a story about love. Of all things... love. The one thing that had both caused me such pain and such happiness all at one time. The one thing that drives me to insanity, yet keeps me far from it. The one thing that saves me... brings me life anew... a fresh breath of living to my soul, and yet kills me every waking day... ripping out my bleeding heart from my chest... sucking the marrow from my bones... acting as a black hole for all my happiness... LOVE.
Well, mom had went upstairs as the movie progressed. The music was good. The storyline was getting interesting - the lead lady of a gentleman's night club falling in love with a writer for their new show (by accident), their own story being transformed into the show so they could sneak around together.
However, she was supposed to be "hands off" to all men, besides the one funding the whole production. The Duke. The only thing about that, was that she wasn't in love with the Duke. She found that she was in love with the poor writer, just as he was completely in love with her. It was their main obsession for one another, both loving for what seemed to be the first time.
Finally, opening night came and she was supposed to sleep with the Duke. That was his...er... "reward" for funding the show, a payment decided before she ever met her love, the writer. "Come What May", she told him, which was the song they had promised to one another. That promise being - whatever came their way, come what may, they would always love one another, and nothing would ever change that.
So she went off to do the deed, and he was driven mad that night, not being able to bear the thought of her in the arms of another man... even just being eyed by that creep. But her love was too strong. She could not complete the transaction. The Duke knew that she had been going behind his back with the writer, as well, so he was going to TAKE his payment. However, he got knocked out, allowing her to escape.
The two were to elope with one another, when she found out that she was dying... Not only that, but if the Duke saw the writer anywhere around the area again, he would have him killed. That, and the show's ending was going to be changed.
The show - it was supposed to be about a Courtesan who fell in love with a Sitar player, when she was supposed to be betrothed to the Evil Maharajah. Well, the Sitar player has a secret song... their real song... which is supposed to help them flee the Evil Maharajah, and live together in love. Well, the Duke, being represented by the Evil Maharajah, had caught onto this story and declared that the ending be changed so that the Courtesan decided that staying with the Evil Maharajah was a much better choice than staying with the poor Sitar player.
So Satine, the main woman... the Courtesan, if you will... had to tell Christian, the writer, that she coudln't love him. She had to lie to him, telling him that she could never love a poor writer, just so that he would leave, and his life would be saved. This way, she could die without him being hurt in the process, and he wouldn't get killed by the Duke for looming around.
Deeply hurt, he stayed in his room, seeming nearly dead to the world anyhow. But his friend, John Leguizamo's character, had basically told him that she still loved him, and he honestly believed it himself because he believed in the power of love. Christian didn't want to hear it, though. But after his friend left, the doubts lingered. He had to make sure.
He took off to the Moulin Rouge to see Satine once more, not knowing that both of their lives were on the line. Eventually, through a big chase-down, he gives her a piece of his mind, and how she hurt him. However, this display happened on the stage in front of everyone during a live show. Then, as he was walking out, his friend yelled out the phrase that meant everything to him.
The greatest thing you'll ever learn... is just to love... and be loved in return...
Feeling betrayed by that phrase, he started walking out yet again. Suddenly, Satine had to let him know. Had to confess her love to him one final time. She had strength enough to rise and sing out to him their ballad... Come What May. Once she did so, he realized that she loved him all along, and they joined hand in hand once more. The Duke, however, had left in the middle of it all, not before trying to fire a shot at Christian.
But luckily, he didn't get a good shot, and left them to one another. The curtains closed on a brilliant show, and he could finally hold her in his arms, having her all to himself. She, the same. But... that was when her final bout of sickness kicked in... She was slipping... fast...
He held her tightly as she fell to the ground, coughing up blood. He hadn't known what was wrong, but simply held onto her, keeping her as close to him as he could as her life was being drained for good, obviously trying to hold onto her as she was slipping away. She whispered what she could to him that he must go on. He had to live to tell the story... And that she loved him... With that, she died.
And so I sat there watching... My eyes wide and my cheeks wet with tears, seeing that the movie held true to it's description. It was indeed a story about love. The kind of love I would die for, just like Satine. Just to have that one person to love, and have them love me in return. That undying love, that come what may... It will always be there no matter what were to happen.
Thus, began my love for that movie/musical. My love for love. My obsession with it. So if you see me talk about the songs from it here and there... If I mention it... It's because I've got it on my mind. Not the movie, mind you. No... I mean love.
Sadly, the more I think of this movie, the more I take a look at it, and take a look at myself... The more I feel alone. The more I get saddened, because I want a love like that. I guess that's what makes it such a great movie, actually. The fact that something like that can exist... And that's all I ask for in this world.
So to close this long thread, and put you all out of your misery, I will leave you with that infamous Moulin Rouge quote:
The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love... and be loved in return...
current mood:
lonelycurrent music: Come What May - Moulin Rouge Sountrack 2
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