An Analytical Of Moulin Rouge Essay Examples

Love is a very powerful force that can bring two people together, and bind them in a very strong bond. Once two people have fallen in love with one other, the bond between them becomes unbreakable. The story of such a love has been depicted in Moulin Rouge through the characters Christian and Satine. The best way to understand the love between the two characters is to compare it to fireworks. Fireworks leave an explosive mark on the sky with their gunpowder but they never disappear completely. In the same way, Christian and Satine share an explosive, fervent love that remains even after Satine’s death. Accumulative, dualistic, foreseeable, and repetitious are some of the typical characteristics embodied in Moulin Rouge. However, it successfully serves the purpose of being entertaining and pleasing because of the clash of cultural and countercultural values. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Moulin Rouge reveals that love is an unbreakable bond.
Moulin Rouge is dualistic because countercultural drives continuously oppose cultural values, with a subsequent doubling of the protagonists. In Moulin Rouge, the protagonist possessing the cultural values is portrayed in the form of Christian, who has cultural values that society typically accepts. He follows the Bohemian ideals of beauty, happiness, love, and truth, and is in search of love. On the other hand, the character with the countercultural drive is portrayed in the form of Satine, who possesses values that society does not typically accept. Satine is a courtesan; she seduces men, and sells herself for personal gain.
When these two characters fall in love, the subsequent clash of their cultural and countercultural values results in commotion, just like the explosion of a firework. Evidently, it seems like the cultural values are conquered by the countercultural values Satine is delighted with the bond that forms between Christian and her. However, Satine’s death allows Moulin Rouge to remain within the normal limits of society because the cultural values manage to overcome the countercultural values.
Moulin Rouge also seems to be quite repetitious. Moulin Rouge depicts a love triangle between Christian, who is broke, Satine, the courtesan, and the Duke, who is filthy rich. Just like typical love triangles, the two men face the conflict of winning the love of the woman, while the woman is put in a position where she must choose one of the two men. In Moulin Rouge, the Duke is the antagonist, and like typical villains, he is arrogant, rich, and snobbish, who does not take no for an answer. Subsequently, when he learns that Satine has chosen Christian over him, he even tries to kill Christian. Ultimately, just like typical love stories, the villain is not able to have the girl.
Similarly, Moulin Rouge is also accumulative, since theme that the bond of love is unbreakable is central to the plot. Throughout, the love that Christian and Satine share is put through tests. The Duke continuously tests Satine, but her love remains unbreakable because she decides to remain faithful to Christian. She also reveals how far she can go in the name of love when she pushes Christian away in order to protect him from the Duke’s bodyguard. At the same time, even though Satine acts as if she does not love him, Christian shows that he loves her no matter what, and keeps coming back. Multiple times, Christian and Satine prove that they truly love one another. This is how it is revealed that their bond is unbreakable and will live on even after Satine’s death.
Moulin Rouge is also predictable since it is accumulative and repetitious. It is very predictable that Christian and Satine will fall in love, and that they will have to face tests in the name of love. Since the plot of Moulin Rouge is set in 1899, it is also nostalgic since people at the time lived life according to their ideals, and love was one of these ideals. Moulin Rouge is also symbolic because of its setting. The Moulin Rouge is a place known for its courtesans and shows. Based on history, Moulin Rouge can be regarded as symbol for freedom and living freely. It is an ideal place for Bohemians like Christian since they can live out their ideals of beauty, happiness, love, and truth. Moulin Rouge is also functional. When Christian and Satine fall in love, an unbreakable bond is formed. This bond is a symbol of the unison of cultural and countercultural values. Even though, the countercultural values are ultimately overcome by the cultural values, this unison simultaneously reinforces our belief in both cultural and countercultural values. As a result, both protagonists become whole.
In order to exhibit that two people can be held together by love, and to maintain unity, several formal elements are used in Moulin Rouge. At the beginning and at the end, Christian types his love story, which formally unifies Moulin Rouge. Moreover, everything about the love story is revealed through the narrative point of view. Thus, by the end, Moulin Rouge answers every possible question about Christian and Satine. It becomes very apparent that they fall in love, they are haplessly in love, their love is unbreakable, and remains even after Satine’s death. In fact, Satine’s death strengthens their love because Christian fulfills her dying wish by penning their love story for the world to know. To some degree, this immortalizes their love. This again makes their love comparable to fireworks, since their love explodes as passionately as fireworks, and leaves a mark that can be seen by everyone.
Moulin Rouge also contains several motifs that contribute to the idea that the bond of love is unbreakable. The most prominent motif is the diamond. In the beginning, the song that Satine sings is about how diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Satine also seems to believe that and all she cares about is money, but her perception changes when she falls in love. Satine no longer remains a materialist once the bond of love is formed between Christian and her. She proves this when the Duke gives her diamonds and she rejects them.
Thus, it is evident two people can indeed share a bond as strong as love, which is represented through the love that Christian and Satine share in Moulin Rouge. Although they do not get live with each other for a long time, their love story is full of compassion and ardor. Although Satine dies before Christian and Satine get to live a fulfilling and meaningful life together, their love lives on since Christian typed their love story for the world to know, immortalizing their love story. Moulin Rouge reveals the fact that love is truly the most important part of life, love is greatest of experiences that can be experienced by anyone, and love cannot be easily broken.