I feel like I have brought up Moulin Rouge quite a lot this week in class. First of all, the
movie is set in France during the turn of the century in 1990. The main guy in
the movie, Christian, is a bit of a romantic himself. When Liza told the Underground
Man that he sounds like a book, I thought that he sounded like Christian from Moulin Rouge. Christian thought that he
could save Satine, a performer at the Moulin Rouge, from her degrading
profession. She is a prostitute and he is a hopeless romantic and writer who
fell in love. Although, Christian never snaps the same way as The Underground
Man had. Christian continues to love Satine and strive for her affection.
Although, in one scene when they are fighting, I’m pretty sure he ends up
paying her, as an insult, for her services, just as the Underground Man had
done to Liza. I think Christian from Moulin
Rouge closely resembles the moralizing hero that The Underground Man tries
to be when first waking up to Liza. Another thing that made be bring up Moulin Rouge was the painting by Manet
that we talked about in class, Absinthe Drink or “the green fairy.” In the
opening scene of Moulin Rouge
Christian drinks this drink for the first time and basically he sees a green fairy dance and sing...
P.S- This movie is a musical…. But mashes up modern songs by
Elton John, Nirvana, David Bowie, The Police, ect…
5 comments:
I also thought of Moulin Rouge! I saw a lot of the same similarities as you did. Mainly in the dichotomy between Underground Man and Christian, especially when confronted with saving the "damsel in distress." I think Christian is able to go through with his actions a lot more effectively than the Underground Man, even though his efforts prove futile...(spoilers).
I've seen Moulin Rouge a bunch of times and would have never thought to compare Christian and Underground Man like you did, mainly because they just have such different styles/personalities. I can definitely see the similarities that you pointed out. Christian is just such an outward romantic, whereas I wouldn't exactly call Underground Man that. Their situations are just so similar (with regards to Liza and Satine).
According to iTunes I've played Christian's version of "Your Song" 66 times.. #noshame
With all the talk of Moulin Rouge this week, I feel ashamed to say that I have never seen it. I know I'll be thinking about the Underground Man the whole time now, though. I will definitely have to watch it this weekend, along with Les Miserables for our discussions about the French Revolution.
In Pretty Woman the wealthy business man saves the prostitute off the streets like a typical nineteenth century Russian hero. Like Liza, Julia Roberts had a bad family life and needed money to support herself. She distances herself from her customers by never kissing them on the mouth like Liza didn't tell the UM her name at first. The business man uses her to make himself look better because he needs dates for his public functions. The UM also uses Liza to boost his own ego. Both men choose their businesses/ideals over the women that they "love". The business man from Pretty Woman returns in the end to marry her because he realizes he made a mistake. The UM half heartedly chases after her but refuses to change his ways or love any one. Pretty Woman ends happily ever after while the UM doesn't change and stays miserable.
I usually don't like musicals, but I think I might give this one a try because of the Nirvana and the similarities to Notes from Underground. From what you've said, they do sound really similar. I wonder if whoever wrote Moulin Rouge took inspiration from the romantic, prostitute-saving stories that Dostoyevsky was making fun of. If this is on Netflix, I might just watch it.
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