The Unbreakable Bond: An Analysis of the Movie, Moulin Rouge

Love is the most powerful, binding force that two people can ever take part in. Once two people experience love, the bond between them will never be broken. Such is the case for the characters Christian and Satine in the film Moulin Rouge. The love between Christian and Satine can best be compared to fireworks; fireworks are short and explosive, but they never fully disappear because they scar the sky with their fury and gunpowder. Likewise, Christian and Satine's love is passionate, explosive, and never vanishes, even after Satine dies. The film Moulin Rouge is a musical that embodies the basic characteristics of genre films in terms of being dualistic, repetitive, cumulative, predictable, nostalgic, and functional; like other genre films, it fulfills its purpose of entertaining the audience by having cultural and countercultural values clash but still pleasing the viewers via staying within the bounds of what is acceptable in society today by showing that love is a bond that can never break.

Moulin Rouge contains all seven characteristics that Charles F. Altman believes make up a genre film. It is dualistic, because "cultural values are constantly opposed to countercultural drives, with a consequent doubling of protagonists" (Altman 38). In Moulin Rouge, Christian represents the protagonist with the cultural values; these are the values accepted by society. He searches for love and wants to live out his Bohemian ideals of beauty, truth, happiness, and love. On the other hand, Satine plays the role of the countercultural drive, which are the values not accepted by society. She is the entertainer; she sells herself and uses the art of seduction for personal gain.

When these two protagonists fall in love, they create turmoil because the cultural and countercultural values clash; this is the spark of a firework. Obviously, Satine is pleased with this bond between her and Christian, which makes it seem as if the countercultural values overpower the cultural values. However, the film stays within the limits of societal norms by killing Satine, essentially causing the cultural values to succeed the countercultural values.

The second genre characteristic of the film is its repetitiveness. There is a love triangle between the penniless Bohemian Christian, the seductress Satine, and the wealthy, unwanted Duke. And just like with any other love triangle, the woman must choose the man she wants to be with, and there is conflict between the two men. In Moulin Rouge, the Duke is portrayed as a type of villain; he is the typical wealthy, snobbish, arrogant man used to getting what he wants. Consequently, once he finds out that Satine does not want him in return he does everything in his power to be with her, including trying to kill Christian. In the end, like all other love stories, the "villain" loses the girl.

This leads to the third characteristic of being cumulative, because the overall theme of the film is that love's bond cannot be broken. Throughout the film, the lovers are put through tests. Satine is tested by the Duke and succeeds when she decides she cannot be unfaithful to Christian. She also proves her love for Christian by pushing him away to keep him safe from the Duke's bodyguard. In turn, Christian proves his love for Satine by coming back to her regardless of her acting like she does not love him. Because Christian and Satine have proven multiple times that they really do love each other, the audience knows that this bond is not broken and the love does not die when Satine dies.

Since the film is repetitive and cumulative, it is predictable. Viewers can easily predict that Christian and Satine will fall in love, and that their love will be tested. The film is also nostalgic, because it is set in 1899, a time when people believed in the ideal of love and tried to live according to their ideals. The film's setting in the actual Moulin Rouge makes it symbolic and fulfills the sixth characteristic of a genre film. The Moulin Rouge is a place formerly known for its shows and women. Viewers who know the history of the Moulin Rouge know that it is a symbol for living freely. It is the perfect place for the Bohemians because it allows them the freedom to explore their ideals of happiness, truth, beauty, and love. And last but not least, the film is functional. When the two protagonists fall in love, they create a bond that cannot be broken. This bond symbolizes a union between the cultural and countercultural values. Although technically the cultural values succeed the countercultural values, this union "serves to reinforce our simultaneous belief in both sets of values" (41). It essentially makes both protagonists whole.

Moulin Rouge uses many formal elements that contribute to the unity of the film and help demonstrate the theory that love holds people together. The beginning and ending scenes reveal Christian typing his love story, which serves to formally unify the film. And the unrestricted narration allows the viewers to know everything about Christian and Satine's love story. As a result, there is narrative unity because any questions regarding Christian and Satine are answered by the end of the film. The audience knows that Christian and Satine fall in love, they are unable to stop themselves from being in love, they cannot stay apart from each other, and the love does not die once Satine dies. If anything, the love that bonds them becomes stronger, because Christian fulfills Satine's dying wish and writes their story so that the whole world knows about them. To some extent, this makes Christian and Satine immortal because other people will be able to read their story and pass it on to future generations. In that sense, their love is like fireworks because it is so passionate it explodes, and once it explodes, it leaves its mark in the sky for all to see.

Certain motifs in the film further contribute to the idea that love is a bond that can never be broken. The diamond motif is the most prominent. In the beginning of the film, Satine sings a song about diamonds and how they are a girl's best friend. Until she falls in love with Christian, she values diamonds and money more than anything else. However, once the bond between Satine and Christian is forged, Satine no longer cares for material objects. She proves this when she rejects the Duke and the diamonds he gives her.

Being a part of the musical genre allows Moulin Rouge to do things that would make no sense in other films. For example, to "show off the patterns formed by the dancers in musical numbers, the camera is often unusually mobile and can even be mounted on a moving crane that lifts it up into the air" (Bordwell 125). Like in the film Dil Se, Moulin Rouge temporarily pauses the narrative to focus on the dance numbers. The most noticeable example of this is the love song between Christian and Satine immediately after they convince the Duke to fund a show starring Satine. In this song and dance number, Satine and Christian step out of the world of the Moulin Rouge and into a cloudy sky where the moon sings to them. This puts the lovers into their own little world and reinforces the bond between them. The stronger the bond becomes, the more their love becomes like fireworks; the more passion there is, the brighter and louder the fireworks are.

Satine and Christian's love represents the strongest bond that two people can ever have. Even though their time together is short, it is full of passion and zeal. And although Satine dies young, the bond between Satine and Christian will never be broken because Christian makes sure to let the whole world know their story, essentially immortalizing them. They have successfully proven that "the greatest thing you'll ever learn, is to love and to be loved in return."