Moulin Rouge and the Disneyfication of the Avant Garde
At best Moulin Rouge is a lot of fun. At worst it represents the erasure of history. Moulin Rouge is set in the Paris of 1900--at least ostensibly it is. The actual Paris of 1900 is the Paris of Satie, the Paris of Ravel, of Debussy. The actual Paris of 1900 is the Paris of Matisse, and at least for part of the year, the Paris of Picasso.
This is very fertile ground for a love story, a musical, anything, really. Puccini found it good enough for La boheme, after all. What we get in Moulin Rouge, though, is a Paris of 1900 filtered through the myopia of late 20th Century pop culture, especially pop music. We get an anachronistic melange of Madonna and Elton John, of Nirvana and Olivia Newton John.
In other words, it isn’t the Paris of 1900. It isn’t even close.
Granted, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec shows up as a supporting character and there is, in the film, a nightclub called Moulin Rouge from which the film cribs its title. But other than that, and the ubiquitous absinthe, there’s not much Parisy about Moulin Rouge the movie, much less Paris, 1900. The character of Toulouse-Lautrec speaks vaguely of the “Bohemian Revolution” but only long enough for the film to make fun of it, and never in enough detail for either a credible manifesto or a credible satire. And, of course, it has to be advocated by Toulouse-Lautrec because Hollywood still thinks dwarves are funny, especially dwarves with lisps.
So why does so little of the real Paris of 1900 appear in this film? I have my suspicions that to use, say the music of Erik Satie, would have been too “challenging” for contemporary audiences. It may have been deemed out of the target demographic of the film, probably “indie” movie buffs in the 19-30 range whose introduction to the avant-garde was Trainspotting. A movie about a writer in Paris that actually dealt with other writers who were really there, other artists who didn’t have the luck to be born lisping dwarves, would never have been made. I mean, who would go to see it? Old people?
The problem, of course, with always making things people can “relate” to, is that in constantly recycling what we know, we fail to ever learn or be challenged by anything new, even if that thing, new to our experience, is past history.
...an extremely difficult concept to grasp. However, history must always be remembered correctly. Otherwise, as Geoffrey Keynes stated, “history will repeat itself”.
The portrayal of art cinema is to some extent accurate when considering the time period of this film. Art film was first introduced to the American film industry during the period of time when this film came out. Art cinema utilizes its own set of artistic expression. Hollywood classical films on the other hand, are at odds with the artistic concept, and are considered to be mainstream. When we look at Classical films, we think of the basic Hollywood movie where there is a beginning, middle and end, and the whole movie comes together at the end, with a little bit of romance. In this specific movie, the audience is faced with a confusing dilemma of choosing whether this movie is an art film or a classical film. Most even think it has a documentary approach, but what makes this movie even more successful and even more entertaining, is that it is both art cinema and classical cinema.
...rtatious, and mainly associated with food. Even the character names such as "Cherie and Lumiere" of "Beauty and the Beast" promotes the romantic nature that the French are stereotyped for. Through the representation of this culture, children would only learn to associate the mentioned stereotypes toward the French and only that. They would not consider other characteristics that the French are also known for, not necessarily the romance and the great French cuisine that we already know of. Having said this, what Disney produced as a harmless depiction of the French, could furthermore fuel of what could be viewed as a limiting representation of the French culture.
The film stays in line with classic noir in many ways. The usage of dark sets and high contrast lighting, which creates heavy shadows on the actors faces, makes the movie feel like it all happens at night and in dark alley ways. The story focuses on the inhumane parts of human nature. Each of the main characters experiences some kind of tragedy. For Vargas his tragedy was in dealing with Quinlin who has set out to frame him and his wife. For Quinlin his entire life represented a man consumed with darkness who lives his life with a “Touch of Evil.” Menzies was a hopeful man who looked up to Quinlin but was let down. For the viewer, film noir represents truth, even if it is not a truth that all people would like to hear.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain’s main characters depicted the societal issues of racism in the South. Huck Finn, a poor white boy, and Jim, an African American slave, both encounter situations that cause these characters inter turmoil because of the societal standards of the time. According to Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
The history of dreaming began in the early centuries. “Dreams were often considered prophetic” (Comptons by Britannica). That means that dreams were seen as a message from the gods. Thousands of years ago, “Greek sick people slept in temples in order to receive dreams that would heal them” (Kantrowitz, Babara; Springen Karen). Current dream science started at the end of the 19th century. Dreams were seen as a kind of “desires” (Kantrowitz; Springen) stemming from childhood. Scientists still don’t know for sure why we are dreaming and what are dreams made of; howe...
Many words the book contains are full of vivid disgust towards black slaves. Every single line talks about how white people despise and refuse to accept the black race. Answering Aunt Sally's question about whether or not anyone is hurt Huck answers, "no mum, just killed a nigger."(Twain 213) This is the one and only acceptable way to talk about black people in the "white" society. In addition to this, not only is the black people treated differently from the white, they are also considered to be one's property. "He is the only property I have," (Twain 122) Huck is perforce to say in order to save Jim. This is the only way to get through without the essence of suspicions. Though Huck shows racism in public as society teaches him, deep inside he understands that Jim is a great person. Through the eyes of Huck Finn, Mark Twain shows that there is more to people then looks and race, showing the importance of beliefs and character.
The average person spends over one-third of their life sleeping, and over this period of time he or she can have over 1,825 dreams (Wicklinski). By definition, dreams are mental images, thoughts, or emotions that are experienced while sleeping. In the beginning, dreams were thought to be messages sent from the gods or spirit world. Researchers now have many theories explaining why people dream. Many of these theories explain that dreams can resemble an individual’s sensory experiences or even secret wishes. All people dream, but only 42% of people can recall their dreams from the night before (“Dreams”). The study of dreams is a topic that is constantly being debated by researchers for many reasons. Dreaming is important because it can impact people’s health, provide insight into what they are feeling, and reveal information about their behavior.
history has repeated itself whether it be for good or bad it has happened. Some examples
Roger Ebert describes the city, Los Angeles, in the film as, "The skies are always dark with airborne filth in this Los Angeles of the future. It usually rains. The infrastructure looks a lot like now, except older and more crowded." He believes the film has "one of the most extraordinary worlds ever created..." and gives it the honor of joining his greatest movies collection.
Baz Luhrmann uses a postmodernist style throughout his films (Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby) to create a unique viewing experience. Baz Luhrmann creates films that reflect on real, emotional, moral stories that both excite and enthral his audience through a world so deceiving, while telling a story that inflicts on pain and the power of loss. He uses mis-en-scenes of shots, proxemics space and lighting that enhance his post-modern style. He embraces change through re-imaginings, capturing the youth through music and his very unique editing techniques. One simply cannot separate a director from his art. Therefore I strongly agree with this statement and I will elaborate on each film individually on his post modernistic style of directing.
Fashion in France was an always popular, ever changing aspect of society. Fashion changed back then just as rapidly as it does now. This facet of culture blossomed during the nineteenth century. Even still today, fashion plays a huge part in lives of everyone across the world and Paris still stands to be one of the major fashion hubs of the world.
The film and Descartes ideas kind of go against each other and also have some
In these short, desperate lines, viewers of the musical Les Misérables are shown the world of the beggars of Paris in 1832. The musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables has made an lasting impact on its followers since it’s opening nearly 30 years ago (Les Misérables: Creation of the Musical). By introducing music to an already remarkable story, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg reveal the social injustice of nineteenth century France to the modern world. In doing this, viewers are welcomed into the world created within the pages of Les Misérables. Bringing this story into the twenty-first century allows for comparison between today’s social injustices and those of 200 years ago. The characters created by Hugo provide a bridge between modern day and a time filled with pain and inequity, particularly for the poor. This is especially evident in the section of the novel centered on the young revolutionaries. Contrary to popular belief, Les Misérables does not chronicle the French Revolution of 1789, but rather the events leading up to the June Rebellion of 1832 (Gossard). Nineteenth century France was a period marked by “political and social unrest” (Les Misérables Historical Context). Laced throughout the novel is Hugo’s commentary on the actions and events of this period, although he is not blatant about his ideas. Through the use of archetypal symbols and characters as well as an emphasis on class conflict, Hugo develops themes of injustice and redemption in his novel Les Misérables.
...rized that dreams were unconscious wishes and urges, he also thought that dreams were a way of preserving sleep, however it was debunked later on. The next theory, is that people dream of thoughts and activities of the day. This theory seems to be the most prominent theory of why people dream. The last theory is that dreaming is a biological process, and nothing more than emotions combined without physical stimulation or rational thought. The last theory states that there is no reason and no real meaning of what the person dreams of; however, many dream researchers disagree and believe dreams reflect one's personality and true desires. None of theses theories are definite though, only more research can tell. Although dreams are not fully understood, there are many types of dreams that people commonly share like: nightmares, lucid dreams, normal dreams, and daydreams.