Fridae

The story line of love's tragedy is age old, the script consists of cliched one liners like "All you need is love", and the whole film hangs thinly by the thread of being called "ridiculously excessive". But hang by the edge is just what director genius Baz Luhrmann does as he deconstructs the genre of musicals for us, that we will never look at them the same way.

And Baz makes no apologies for this brazen work of ridiculousness, and we salute him for that. The same way he reinvented Romeo and Juliet, he does for Moulin Rouge, "spectacular, spectacular".

With enough campiness to shake up the whole of Boom Boom Room (aka Singapore's drag comedy club which Baz visited when he was in town for the local premiere), Moulin Rouge pretty much gets away with everything. From casting a 'drunk on absinthe' Kylie Minogue as the Green fairy to parodying songs like Sting's Roxanne and the Sound of Music, to infusing a healthy dose of Bollywood, attempting to simply slap a label on what Moulin Rouge is all about can be harrowing.

Nicole Kidman as Satine falls short of being remarkable as (in the words of the Baz himself), "she sings, she dances, she dies, she's funny". Ewan McGregor as the bohemian, penniless poet melts more than a few hearts as he croons his way through the whole show. Surprisingly, McGregor's non-singer voice has dynamics and tone, and Kidman's shimmers with emotion that comes across as appealing and earnest.

The entire film has got Baz's trademark grin plastered all over, from the beginning when a miniscule conductor at the bottom of the screen opens 'the curtains' and conducts the 20th Century Fox anthem, to the lavish and elaborate sets and costumes (gorgeous and campy bordering on tacky). But then those who know agree that only someone like Baz Luhrmann can get away with it.

The ludicrous bohemian rhapsody of beauty, truth, freedom and love aside, this flamboyant musical will definitely be on everyone's lips for along time to come. As Harry Zidler would growl, "The show MUST go on�"