FILM SYNOPSIS

Cinema Australia 2009
feat. Baz Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy
26 January – 5 February 2009

Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Running time: 94 mins
Synopsis: The hit of the Cannes Film Festival of 1992 is a spirited, allegorical musical about a young, competitive ballroom dancer who outrages his mother and the "establishment" by insisting on dancing his own provocative steps and taking on a new ugly-duckling partner who blooms under his tutelage. Ballet dancer Paul Mercurio shot to fame with this film. He is partnered by Tara Morice and supported by Barry Otto, Gia Carides and Bill Hunter

Romeo+Juliet (1996)
Running time: 116 mins
Synopsis: The film tells the greatest love story of all time in our time. William Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers is set in Verona Beach; a violent modern city of guns, money and greed. In this opulent world of hate, rival gangs, and families at war Romeo and Juliet are ignited by the passion of forbidden first love and Verona Beach explodes. Shakespeare's heart wrenching tale of doomed love is told with passion, beauty, wit and furious energy. It's a film that will kick you in the heart.

Moulin Rogue! (2001)
Running time: 123 mins
Synopsis: The third instalment in Baz Luhrmann's 'Red curtain' trilogy, "Moulin Rouge" is a kinetic and gaudy paean to the infamous Paris nightclub. Borrowing its cues from just about every pop song written in the last century from Marc Bolan to Kurt Cobain, this ferociously paced musical tells the tragi-comic tale of doomed lovers Satine (Nicole Kidman) and Christian (Ewan McGregor). Apart from the countless Hollywood musicals it borrows from, "Moulin Rouge" ultimately takes it's inspiration from the classic Orpheus and Eurydice tale, substituting 1900's Paris for the underworld that Orpheus descends into in order to rescue his true love. Kidman's Satine (played as a larger than life Marilyn Monroe), is the collectively worshiped dance hall queen of the Moulin Rouge who falls for the hapless poet, Christian. McGregor brings genuine feeling to his role as the innocent dreamer who learns the hard way of the darkness lurking behind the seductive glamour of the Paris night scene. Luhrmann has much fun with this decorative folly, not stopping for a breath as he moves from one outlandish set to another. Everything is pitched at the most broadest level from the performances (Richard Roxburgh is beyond camp as the slippery Duke of Monroth), to the manic camera work which zooms from the smallest detail to the highest roof top in a single leap. Cast includes Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, John Leguizamo, Garry McDonald, Christine Anu, Kylie Minogue, David Wenham and Kerry Walker.