I have been following the various arguments that have been going on
regarding Baz Luhrmann and his musical movie, "Moulin Rouge". Actually,
while I would agree that somehow many of those terms used by my professors
which I raised on this panel or mailing list sound somewhat reductive, I
would have to add that I find serious problems with trying to label that
particular Hindi music sequence in the movie as a blow to multiculturalism.
The Hindi music sequence is undoubtedly an adaptation of the fare we find in
Hindi(or Bollywood) movies which have the mythological themes common to
Hindu religion, where the gods intervene in human affairs through their
avatars and incarnations. What I find very surprising about the sequence in
Luhrmann's adaptation is that the plausible figure of the Hindu god, the
dark-skinned mulatto or slave figure in "Moulin Rouge" whom Satine shares a
friendship with(Cocoa, or some strangely cheesy name like Chocolate, if
anyone can remind me of the name) , occupies a role as an observer of the
tragedy instead of intervening in it in the way the Hindu gods are shown
intervening in the Hindi or Tamil movies.
One has to admit that for all the tiring reminders that the movie is all
about love, the movie is unapologetically kitsch. Baz Luhrmann, in directing
the movie, seems to be having almost every bit of fun he could have as an
auteur directing the various songs from the 60's to the 80's, orchestrating
them into one major piece with an over-arching theme(that theme we all know
to be "love"), and then creating some grand parodic version of them all.
That may be why, for all the times when Baz does get really tiring as an
entertainer, one has to also admit he is also interesting as an auteur.
Kevin Teo
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