Moulin Rouge and Across the Universe

Poster for release in Japan.

The Recycled Musical may not be a term you’re familiar with; nor is it an official subgenre anyway, at least not for the academics.  For us, the Recycled Musical is a film or play that pulls popular music pieces from the culture and attempts to create some sort of narrative to unify them into a cohesive whole.  While Singing in the Rain is a classic film, few of the songs featured were original songs; in fact the majority of the songs had been heard on the radio and even in other films long before the film was made.

Moulin Rouge and Across the Universe both use popular songs to tell their stories, though in different ways.  Across the Universe set out to connect the songs, using them as a base and then filling in the gaps.  Moulin Rouge, however, uses the music we’re familiar with in order to borrow their meaning:  the film finds and uses music that will best deliver its point (the characters feel the way you feel when you hear THIS).
 

The idea, though, is that the Recycled Musical takes the stuff that we know, and may have used up already, and uses it to create something new.  While the product isn’t always better, the effort is almost always interesting.

KATE SAYS that Across the Universe is a blast! And I've realized that Beatles songs are surprisingly narrative (possibly one reason they have lasted so well and so long). The beginning of the movie feels very natural; the music might have been designed solely for the movie's plot!

The end of the movie feels a little more forced—the plot is twisted to fit the music rather than the other way around. Still, the overall effect is of a beautiful, natural love story.

In many ways, the milieu is the same as in Rent; however, this is the non-irritating version. For one thing, well, there’s the music! (Beatles versus, uh, everybody-else.) For another, events and people are fully complex. Nothing is easy or stream-lined. There are no good or bad people, not even in the scene at the draft office. And the focus is on the people, not on their message. One of the most touching parts of the movie for me is when Lucy is caught in the riot at the university. Terrified, she hunches in the telephone booth, whispering Jude’s words, “It’s gonna be all right.”

In fact, the entire movie reminds me of Poirot’s comment at the end of One Two Buckle My Shoe. After the villain gives his “ends justify the means” speech, Poirot replies, “Poirot is not concerned with nations. Poirot is only concerned with private individuals who have the right not to have taken from them their lives.”

Likewise, this movie is not about THE CAUSE and how one must be part of THE CAUSE in order to be SAVED. It is about people in love. Which is downright refreshing. Though the--deliberate?--irony of both movies is that what lasts is not love but art about love. (I don't suppose a bunch of writers, musicians, and choreographers could really come to any other conclusion.)

Moreover, Across the Universe is a real musical. It’s fascinating—to quote the Vulcan—to see how it pays tribute to movies we watched much earlier in this list. The choreography, such as the dance in the draft office, is far more reminiscent of Singing in the Rain than just about anything we’ve watched so far. And for a bigger-than-life payoff, Across the Universe totally delivers!

Across the Universe was an entirely new experience for me (though I own the DVD thanks to Mike). I had seen Moulin Rouge many years before. It wasn’t substantially different than I remembered (though in part that’s because I’m familiar with Buz Luhrmann’s work, including Strictly Ballroom). Moulin Rouge with its pastiches, tributes, borrowings, over-the-top numbers does a better job than Across the Universe at creating a polished product that is not completely run by its musical numbers (mostly because Moulin Rouge IS the musical numbers), yet the feel of both movies is quite similar. There’s that joie de vivre that seems to be rooted, again, in far older musicals, creating a direct link from Sound of Music (literally) to Rocky Horror to these films.

The one thing I had forgotten about Moulin Rouge—or not fully appreciated the first time—is what a powerhouse performer Ewan McGregor is. Because I got to know Ewan in non-singing parts, I always kind of assumed his voice in Moulin was dubbed. But that’s him, and, boy, wow, he is amazing.

I’m beginning to realize that I prefer those actors/singer, like Tim Curry, who really aren’t know for singing, yet have impressively distinct voices.

MIKE SAYS my first viewing of Moulin Rouge was.... let's say, not traditional.  While most saw this movie with a girlfriend or boyfriend, I had the pleasure of watching it with a fellow film geek... and before you ask, yes, it was awkward.  Luckily, the film was good.  Really Good.

Good enough that I showed it to my wife, and it became a favorite.  I've always had a soft spot for musicals and great visuals, and this film fulfilled both.  What I love most about the film is the music, but it's because of how and why it is used that I love it.  Of course, the fact that Ewen McGregor's voice rocks the house just helps the cause.

What I love about the music is that the referential nature of the music actually serves a purpose.  When McGregor sings "The Hills are Alive," the film isn't suggesting that he wrote or created the song.  Rather, it's using a very familiar and renowned song to communicate to the audience the power of his writing; his music is as powerful to the other characters as the song is to us.

It's the same with almost every other song.  The medley of love songs is my favorite from the entire film, as it works as an homage to love songs themselves, not just as a way to communicate what the characters are feeling.  The only possible exception here is "Like a Virgin," which feels a little shoehorned in for me.

The emotion and story of the film are powerful, and the performances of the cast are excellent.  There are a couple holes, but overall the film is rather amazing.  While I have seen a few films since then that tried to recapture the same magic, none have come as close as Across the Universe.

Rather than try to borrow the meaning of the songs given, the film uses them to give them meaning and context.  This works, for the most part.  But some songs, such as "Mr. K" are odd no matter the context.  My favorites of the bunch are "Dear Prudence" and "A Little Help from my Friends."  The movie actually illustrates these songs so well that they exist in my mind as the new definition.

If the films loses me at all, it's during the drug-induced montage during the gangs weekend traveling.  I get that its a sixties film, and I get that many Beatles songs were about drugs (or only made sense while on them).  However, I may never get over the weird grey Asian ladies dancing in the water.

I enjoy both movies very much, but if there is one things I had to complain about, it would be the same for both: I feel that the love stories were a tad forced.  While their relationships define the rest of both stories, the beginning of both relationships are sort of skimmed over.  We need them to be together, there's an attraction, let's do it.

While Moulin Rouge shows a little more of a courtship, this isn't much consolation, as said courtship takes only a few hours, and the characters are professing love within moments.  I get this on a writing level, but as a human being, I don't build relationships that easily.  I've had to work for almost every relationship I ever had, and lost many more because of my inability to do it properly.  I understand that the films are essentially about the outcome of the relationships . . . but yikes, can't we spend a little more time on how they start?

I really dug the idea of the "Recycled" musical for the list, because most people see musicals as being only original music.  At first thought, borrowing the music from someone else may seem like an easy way to write a film.  But I think it takes skill to work them into the story in such a way that feels natural.  For the most part, both films succeed more than they could have hoped.

But in future films, I would like a little less disturbing imagery with the music I love, ok? Thanks.