'Moulin Rouge' alluring, enjoyable eye candy

This weekend, Australian director Baz Luhrmann's glittering cinematic eye candy "Moulin Rouge" opened in theaters across the country, and unless you have already written off postmodern filmmaking as the shameless recycling of trite plot sequences, some of the stylistic tricks Luhrmann orchestrates here are definitely worth seeing. Also, it's hard not to be taken in by a director who's so obviously in love with the story he's trying to tell.\nThe film takes place in Paris circa 1899 and tells the admittedly tired story of transcendent love where divisions between social classes seem to be crossed as the beautiful, desirable and impressively self-sufficient prostitute (Nicole Kidman as the courtesan Satine) captures the heart of the innocent and penniless young writer, Christian, played by Ewan McGregor. The apparent conflict of the film is that Satine has to choose between the villainous Duke (Richard Roxburgh), who believes in his right to purchase her, and Christian, who represents true love.\nBesides being a love story, the film is also a tragedy and a musical. The production numbers are garish and mesmerizing; during the first half of the film especially, you hardly know what you're looking at. There are so many carnivalesque characters to focus on, from Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent, Topsy Turvy), the outlandish proprietor of the Moulin Rouge, to Toulouse Lautrec (John Leguizamo, Tybalt in Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet), and even a narcoleptic Argentinian. What\'s most interesting about this motley cast is the refusal to slow down the movement of the film makes it impossible to register the strangeness of these people or to pick up on the stereotypes (in terms of race, gender) that Luhrmann is playing with: for instance, Leguizamo is Hispanic, but he plays a Frenchman; one character, Audrey, is a man dressed up in drag. By including characters like these in the film and not judging them as social outsiders -- in fact, they seem to be the norm here -- Luhrmann is recognizing a variety of identities that are frequently denied cinematic representation. \nThe only problem with all this is that if you want this film to be anything other than spectacular (for instance, substantial), then you're likely to be disappointed. The acting is good all around, even the singing is enjoyable (if occasionally hokey) and there are no plot holes. But if you pay too much attention to the story, the overall feel of the film slips away, and without Luhrmann\'s giddy, excessive fervor, this film could be easily written off as a mere chick flick. So, if you're willing to be swept up in Baz Luhrmann's strange vision for a little more than two hours, his is a stylistic perspective on filmmaking that's worth at least being exposed to.