Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy - Strictly Ballroom / Romeo + Juliet / Moulin Rouge (2001)
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
Nicole Kidman Satine
Ewan McGregor Christian
John Leguizamo Toulouse-Lautrec
Jim Broadbent Zidler
Richard Roxburgh Duke of Worcester
Garry McDonald The Doctor
Jacek Koman The Unconscious Argentinean
Matthew Whittet Satie
Kerry Walker Marie
Caroline O'Connor Nini Legs in the Air
Movie Details
Genre Drama; Musical; Romance
Director Baz Luhrmann
Producer Fred Baron; Martin Brown
Writer Baz Luhrmann; Craig Pearce
Studio 20th Century Fox
Language English
Audience Rating PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Running Time 126 mins
Country Australia
Color Color
IMDb Rating 7.7
Plot
Baz Luhrmann has coined the term red curtain cinema for his technique of using theatrical conventions to invigorate films to dazzling and dizzying heights, as shown in the three contained in this set: Strictly Ballroom (1993), William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996), and Moulin Rouge (2001). Luhrmann notes the important characteristics of this style: take a well-known myth or fable and set it in a heightened creative world that the audience can participate in. In Strictly Ballroom, it's both David and Goliath and the Ugly Duckling set in the supercharged world of ballroom-dancing competition. For Romeo & Juliet, it's the star-crossed lovers transplanted to modern-day Verona Beach yet still peppered with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter. Moulin Rouge takes the story of Orpheus descending into the underworld in search of love then sets it in 19th-century Paris and adds modern pop songs.

The Red Curtain Trilogy includes these three films in loaded special-edition DVDs (all available separately), with featurettes and commentary tracks by Luhrmann and production designer (and Luhrmann's wife) Catherine Martin among others, and, in the case of Moulin Rouge, a second disc of features. Fans may opt for this trilogy rather than the separate discs because of its exclusive bonus DVD, "Behind the Red Curtain," the centerpiece of which is the documentary "Red Curtain Cinema," in which Luhrmann explains his theory behind this system of storytelling. It's 20 minutes if you watch it straight through, but numerous onscreen links offer two hours of older interviews, clips from other Luhrmann works, scripts, and an example of the Bollywood style. Other items include a 6-minute tour of the "House of Iona" (the home of the Bazmark creative team), and a grab bag of other materials such as all three scripts, DVD-ROM features, and an early example of the "red curtain" style, a pop interpretation of a Benjamin Britten opera excerpt called "Now Until the Light of Day." No doubt Luhrmann fans will consider the Red Curtain Trilogy "spectacular spectacular." --David Horiuchi

Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 294
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
All Movie Guide
IMDB
Product Details
Format DVD
Region Region 1
UPC 024543037064
Release Date 10/09/2002
Nr of Disks/Tapes 5
Extra Features
Color Closed-captioned Box set