Leofwine_draca MOULIN ROUGE is an engaging and well-realised biopic of the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, directed by John Huston with skill and panache. It's a somewhat slow-moving mood piece that aims to depict a slice of life at tail of the 19th century in vivid and vibrant Paris, and it does that in spades.Tall actor Jose Ferrer plays the main role. Toulouse-Lautrec was a short guy in real life, so special effects are called into play to make Ferrer seem short. Sometimes he's doubled, sometimes he walks on his knees. It's a physical transformation worthy of the great Lon Chaney and Ferrer shines in the part, bringing the tortured artist soul to life in a believable way.The rest of the film can be slow in paces but there's always something visually interesting taking place to keep it moving. The cast is full of larger than life figures, none more so than Zsa Zsa Gabor as a flamboyant dancer. The scenes at the Moulin Rouge are particularly well-staged aside from the guy with the distracting fake nose and chin, but then he's used to tie in to the artist's famous silhouette. A regular run of familiar faces including Eric Pohlmann, Michael Balfour, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee helps to retain the interest, and the ending is suitably sombre.

Wuchak A drama/biography/musical from 1952? My wife just wasn't interested. But I insisted that there's no film like the original (i.e. the REAL) "Moulin Rouge." It's a biography of the renown French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from the 1890s who had very short legs and grew to stand only about 4'11" due to an accident and bone disease. Although he was from an aristocratic family he chose to live alone in Paris to pursue his art career. He would spend time at a local cabaret, Moulin Rouge, where he'd find inspiration for his art, as well as fuel for his increasing alcoholism.Although Henri (José Ferrer) was brilliant artistically & intellectually, he understandably had a poor self-image due to his dwarfism, which was constantly reinforced by various mean-spirited people. Yet, he discovers love for the first time when he meets a spirited woman bred in the cobblestone jungles of Paris (Colette Marchand). Will this love enhance his life or ultimately poison him? I'll leave that for you to discover.INTERESTING ITEMS: The opening dance hall sequences are highlighted by Katherine Kath (the redhead) and a young Zsa Zsa Gabor.José Ferrer is great as the protagonist with his commanding voice and interesting dialogues. His commentaries on life are brilliant and brutally honest, but also cynical.The viewer REALLY wants to see Henri find true love, happiness and victory, despite his deformity, but his cynicalism and alcoholism sadly enshroud him.The story is both entertaining AND thought-provoking. My wife & I had some good discussions after the film. For instance, real-life people & couples that the story brought to mind, the nature of existence as "unattractive" and unloved, missed opportunities thrown in our laps due to poor self-image and addictions, being a "has-been" and a "continue-to-be", etc.There's another significant female character who shows up in the third act, but I'm not sure of her name (in the movie or real life). In any event, the viewer will notice that she's NOT embarrassed to appear with Henri in public like the pathetic Marie Charlet. This is an important part; take note.Since the film is a biography it could only end one way, but I won't spoil it for you if you're not familiar with the true story.The film was shot in Paris and England and runs 2 hours.FINAL WORD: Make no mistake, "Moulin Rouge" is a masterpiece. There's really nothing else like it. It's the perfect antidote to modern 'blockbuster' drek. Disregard the fact that it was released in 1952, particularly if you have a distaste for old movies, as "Moulin Rouge" is a timeless film both hugely entertaining and thought-provoking, not to mention REAL. After watching my wife expressed how much she liked the film and thanked me because she would have never chosen it on her own.GRADE: A+

Jem Odewahn There were moments when I was watching this in which I felt intensely interested, and moved. But there were too many "blah" moments for me to see it as a really good picture. It's a very loose biopic of the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Jose Ferrer), crippled in early life by an accident, shown as brilliant artist but a tragic, lonely drunk. Director John Huston and photographer Oswald Morris capture the atmosphere of 19th century Paris very well, with often gorgeous compositions. It also surprisingly captures the vulgarity of this life, with Colette Marchand's desperate, animal-like prostitute a standout. But Jose Ferrer's performance is so average that it ruins the picture. He just stands and delivers his lines in a monotone scene after scene. The relationship between Marchand and Ferrer, who so desperately wants love that it's killing him, is interesting but you can't help thinking that Ferrer is just a dumb sap, which kills the picture. And when a decent woman comes into his life later in the picture, he's too blind to see it! His obsession with Marchand just gets really irritating after a while, because her character is just not worth the trouble.

Nazi_Fighter_David This romanticized treatment of the life of artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is literally one of the most colorful films ever made…All the hues and colors in the palette go whizzing by in the Parisian streets, country homes, and cabarets of the late 19th century… Can-Can girls in reds and blues, against a misty brown-gold backdrop, flourish their silks and feathers in the face and soul of dwarfed painter who could recreate their essence on canvas, yet never possess them physically… It is the tragedy of Lautrec's (Jose Ferrer) life which bounces around the rainbow framework… The cruel prostitute (Colette Marchand) to whom he gave his love and the young woman (Suzanne Flon) who befriended the artist motivate the narrative, from the crippling-fall in the home of his father to the death-fall in the dirty-looking saloon… Brilliant work by Ferrer, fine support by Marchand and Flon, and the gaiety of Zsa Zsa Gabor cap the film