History YMMV / MoulinRouge

** A character (usually) played by [[Creator/Ewan Mcgregor Ewan McGregor]] [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars in a secret love with a woman named Satine.]]

** A character (usually) played by Creator/Ewan McGregor [[WesternAnimationStarWarsTheCloneWars in a secret love with a woman named Satine.]]

* DesignatedHero: Harold Zidler, in particular, comes off as a rather vile character if you break down everything he does during the movie; first off, he is a pimp and is in charge of selling Satine and the other Diamond Dogs to interested buyers, he bankrupts the brothel he's running due to his sick obsession with electricity (an investment that he could never hope to see a return on due to the cost of power and maintenance of such a set-up during the turn of the century), he is the mastermind behind the plan to lure The Duke in and have him bankroll the brothel's transformation into a theater, he holds Satine's dream of being a 'real actress' over her head to convince her to do what he says, he knows Satine's health is deteriorating but doesn't remove her from the show, tell The Duke, or even ''her'' until she's ready to leave the show, and he is the one who agreed to The Duke's terms to have Satine contractually bound to The Duke and handed the deed over to him. And yet, he gets a pass just because he punches The Duke at the end. And probably because he's quite an OTT and entertaining character to watch.

** Creator/JimBroadbent's scene stealing work was also passed by come Oscar time, but in this case, he was nominated and won for his work in ''Film/{{Iris}}'' instead. Noticeably, at Bafta, he was nominated in lead for ''Iris'' and won supporting for this film instead. Many have said his performance here likely helped him win for his work in the other film.

* BrokenBase: Whether or not the stage musical lives up to the film is heavily debated. Whether or not the music lives up to the original is also argued. And then there's whether or not the cast is a good fit: Karen Olivo is generally praised as Satine. While a seasoned Broadway vet whose acting as Christian is praised, Aaron Tveit's vocal performance is much more divisive; he comes off as a relatively weak singer in the role to some compared to Karen, and especially compared to Creator/EwanMcGregor. His "El Tango de Roxanne" is universally praised however, and he ended up winning a Tony Award for his performance.

* DesignatedHero: Harold Zidler in particular comes off as a rather vile character if you break down everything he does during the movie; first off he is a pimp and is in charge of selling Satine and the other Diamond Dogs to interested buyers, he bankrupts the brothel he's running due to his sick obsession with electricity (an investment that he could never hope to see a return on due to the cost of power and maintenance of such a set-up during the turn of the century), he is the mastermind behind the plan to lure the Duke in and have him bankroll the brothel's transformation into a theater, he holds Satine's dream of being a 'real actress' over her head to convince her to do what he says, he knows Satine's health is deteriorating but doesn't remove her from the show, tell the Duke, or even ''her'' until she's ready to leave the show, and he is the one who agreed to the Duke's terms to have Satine contractually bound to the Duke and handed the deed over to him. And yet, he gets a pass just because he punches the Duke at the end. And probably because he's quite an OTT and entertaining character to watch.

* GenreTurningPoint: The acclaim of the film has resurrected hope of musical films since its release.

** Very much on display during Zidler and the Duke's duet of "Like a Virgin". Sure, the whole number is about Satine falsely being in love with the Duke, but it also includes Zidler dressing up like her and being quite intimate with his fellow singer. At first the Duke seems weirded out by Zidler's flirtatious performance, but as it goes on, he fully embraces it, chasing him, and lovingly embracing him.

* MoralEventHorizon: The audience knows from the start that the Duke isn't a nice person; it's when he [[spoiler:tries to rape Satine after she refuses him]] that he [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil loses any sympathetic edge he might have had.]]

** Satine saying how she wants to be "a real actress" when she is already singing, dancing and performing for hundreds of adoring people.

** During her verse in the "Heroes" section of "Elephant Love Medley", Nicole Kidman gives a big, not-too subtle shrug while saying "And I... I'll drink all the time" that feels more like a high school theatre performance than an Academy Award nominated one.

** [[LargeHam Richard Roxburgh's performance is so damn over the top]], but it helps make the Duke a more memorable and enjoyable character.
** Sure, Satine's attempt to distract the Duke is childish in just how awful it is, but it's also funny, and the Duke's perplexed reaction indicates it's meant to be seen that way.

** While Christian and Satine's love for each other may be born very quickly, the great chemistry between Creator/EwanMcGregor and Creator/NicoleKidman makes it work.
** As noted under the straight {{Narm}} section, Christian's [[spoiler: crying over Satine's death]] may sound a bit ridiculous, but it's still a genuinely heartbreaking moment, and the explanation that he's too [[spoiler: grief stricken to care how he sounds]] can make it even sadder.
** On one hand, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec taking a somewhat slapstick like fall and holding on for dear life as he quite loudly quotes [[spoiler: "Nature Boy"]] to save the day may sound messy in practice. But the words [[spoiler: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved, in return"]] ring true, and Creator/JohnLeguizamo's [[LargeHam shouting delivery]] is still quite heartfelt, resulting in a great moment. As for the volume, it can easily be excused by [[spoiler: Christian]] being well on [[spoiler: his]] way to the exit. He had to make sure he was heard somehow.

** ''El Tango De Roxanne'' starts to veer into this territory when the Duke realizes he's been played for a fool and prepares to rape Satine. The scene is intercut with two different sequences: The first being the Argentinian leading the tango, which ends with the metaphorical "Roxanne" getting ''murdered'' by the jealous lover, symbolizing the danger Satine is in from stringing the Duke along; the second is Christian ''screaming'' in anguish over the idea of losing Satine to the Duke. It's all so overwhelming that when the number is finally over, you need to take a minute to catch your breath.
** While it's a comedic number, "Like a Virgin" can also apply. First there's Zidler's drawn out, creepy opening speech. Then there's the Duke's high pitched, creepy voice when he starts to join in singing. And don't forget when the Duke states right into the camera with a nightmarish face when he sings the lyrics "Feels so good inside". And of course, the near the end when he makes a animalistic face as he playfully preys on Zidler. If you're not laughing at all this, you might be a bit uncomfortable.

** One iconic element of this film was Music/KylieMinogue as the Green Fairy. Her scene lasted less than a minute.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Nini Legs-in-the-Air has practically nothing to do in the film other than spilling the secret of Christian and Satine to the Duke, something that's never truly explained. If her role was fleshed out and she was able to interact more with the other characters, exploring her motives (such as the often interpreted jealousy angle) then the moment would've flowed much better and strengthened the plot.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: As DesignatedHero explains in vivid detail, Harold Zidler may be a fun character, but if you don't let his over the top showmanship distract you from what he's actually doing throughout the film, he comes across as truly reprehensible and not much better than the Duke. And unlike the Duke, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil whose actions, while unjustifiable,]] can at least be explained by [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope him cracking from]] [[JerkassWoobie his mistreatment]], while Zidler has no excuse, with him being fully responsible for any misfortune to befall him and the Moulin Rouge. [[KarmaHoudini The fact that he's never even called out for his crimes doesn't help.]]

** Nini Legs-in-the-Air gets a lot of this from people who frame her as someone terrified of what might happen if Christian and Satine were found out. There's really no evidence for this in the film, as noted above, and she appears to be motivated by jealousy. What's more is that being afraid doesn't really justify snitching on them - considering she pretty much ensures that everything definitely goes wrong a lot sooner than usual. Not to mention that makes her indirectly responsible for [[spoiler: the Duke nearly raping Satine]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Nini-in-the-Air has practically nothing to do in the film other than spilling the secret of Christian and Satine to the Duke, something that's never truly explained. If her role was fleshed out, explaining her motives (such as the often interpreted jealousy angle) then the moment would've flowed much better and strengthened the plot.

** As noted above in {{Narm}}, the use of Music/KatyPerry's "Firework" as Satine's IWantSong in the stage musical is a bit jarring, but depending on the production and the actress playing Satine, it becomea a stirring display of Satine's resilience and hope for a better life.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** As DesignatedHero explains in vivid detail, Harold Zidler may be a fun character, but if you don't let his over the top showmanship distract you from what he's actually doing throughout the film, he comes across as truly reprehensible and not much better than the Duke. And unlike the Duke, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil whose actions, while unjustifiable,]] can at least be explained by [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope him cracking from]] [[JerkassWoobie his mistreatment]], while Zidler has no excuse, with him being fully responsible for any misfortune to befall him and the Moulin Rouge. [[KarmaHoudini The fact that he's never even called out for his crimes doesn't help.]]

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: At first played straight, then inverted. By WordOfGod, the reason the Bohemians couldn't get their version of "The Sound of Music" right and resorted to SesquipedalianLoquaciousness, and why Christian could get it right and wow them, was because Christian had an understanding of True Art that they did not--it was a stylistic choice. This is then continually inverted throughout the whole movie, where modern songs are used in place of the sort of music there would actually have been in 1899 Montmartre in order to help the viewer understand what it would have been like then and how those going to the Moulin Rouge would have felt (their idea of decadence and ours would not mix, but that ''is'' what it was to them), as well as to express feelings the characters otherwise could not. It's an interesting conceit, but whether it [[{{Narm}} actually works]] or is [[MindScrew appropriate]] is [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness up to]] the viewer.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "''El Tango De Roxanne''", "''Elephant Love Medley''", and "''Come What May''". "Come What May" in particular is, straight up, one of the greatest love duets ever put to film.
** The stage musical manages to one-up many songs from the film and one of the highlights is the song "Sympathy For The Duke", which is a medley of Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} songs. Specifically, "Sympathy For The Devil", "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Gimme Shelter". It's incredibly well done and works as an amazing introduction for the Duke.

* CoveredUp: Many don't know that "Music/{{Lady Marmalade|2001}}" was originally done by Labelle in TheSeventies. Also, in spite of its popularity and the fact that it was used in a good deal of the film's marketing, that was not the version actually ''used'' in the film. The song itself, blended with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and original verse spoken by Jim Broadbent, is the first really big number in the film.

* CoveredUp: Many don't know that "Lady Marmalade" was originally done by Labelle in TheSeventies. Also, in spite of its popularity and the fact that it was used in a good deal of the film's marketing, that was not the version actually ''used'' in the film. The song itself, blended with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and original verse spoken by Jim Broadbent, is the first really big number in the film.