‘Moulin Rouge’ staggering

In Theaters

Moulin Rouge. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. 126 minutes. PG-13

In the dizzying opening moments of Baz Luhrmann’s decadent new musical, “Moulin Rouge,” Luhrmann – caught in the throes of an ongoing, postmodern high – takes audiences on a wild ride over the rooftops of Paris at the turn of the last century.

Ripped from F.W. Murnau’s 1926 silent film, “Faust,” the opening shot is among the first of several pop culture references, a great deal of which are hurled at the screen at a pace so frenzied that the film – not to mention the audience – threatens to explode in the eye-popping excess.

Everything in the first 30 minutes of “Moulin Rouge” seems to be strung out on too much caffeine, too much cocaine, too much joie de vivre, too much Gay Paris, too much, well, too much.

Initially, the images come so fast and furious the eye can’t focus and the heart can’t beat; colors blur, diamonds glitter, the Man in the Moon sings, dwarfs twirl, flowers bloom, the underworld shines.

But what a show. The film, which is inspired by the famous Parisian nightclub, is pure Bollywood bombast, an imperfect fantasy filled with perfect moments that are absolutely original in spite of being completely unoriginal.

Irony, you see, is Mr. Luhrmann’s protege, a device the director uses to powerful effect as he presses his tongue firmly to his cheek.

“Moulin Rouge” is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about love – romantic love, love of life, culture, truth, myth, illusion, kitsch, camp and bohemia. At its core, it follows the romance between Satine (Nicole Kidman), the tragic star of the Moulin Rouge, and Christian (Ewan McGregor), the writer who comes to love her.

The plot that tosses them together is nothing special – Luhrmann himself said it’s modeled after the Orpheus myth, “Cabaret” and “Camille” – but the actors are so good, they make it special. When Christian is asked by Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) to write a new show called “Spectacular Spectacular” for the financially strapped nightclub, the dastardly Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh) agrees to produce it, but not without a catch: the Duke wants the gorgeous Satine for himself, which ultimately pushes everyone involved to an ugly breaking point.

With Kidman freer than she’s ever been (in regard to her performance, not to her failed marriage to Tom Cruise), McGregor showcasing a surprisingly strong voice and a wicked charm, and Jim Broadbent nicely cast as the Moulin Rouge’s master of ceremonies, “Moulin Rouge” follows Lurhmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” in that it incorporates a wealth of contemporary songs into its historic setting.

Extravagantly produced and beautifully choreographed, these songs – which include works from Madonna, Elton John, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, The Police and others – become a crazed visual feast festooned in high-period style. Does it work? For the most part, absolutely.

But you might want to take a nap afterward.

Grade: A-

On Video and DVD

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Directed by Ang Lee. Written by James Schamus, Wang Hui Ling and Tsai Kuo Jung. 119 minutes. PG-13. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Ang Lee’s masterwork, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is everything you’ve heard it is and more, an amazing film infused with Eastern myths and Western pop that gleefully draws from the masters of the Chinese action genre while mischievously reinventing it.

The film follows Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), a martial arts expert retiring his sword, the infamous Green Destiny, even though he’s about to go in search of the person who murdered his master. With the woman (Michelle Yeoh) he’s loved for years at his side, Bai is about to leave when the Green Destiny is stolen, his arch nemesis, Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei), storms back into his life, and an aristocrat’s daughter (Zhang Zi-yi) proves she’s hardly the demure petal some perceive her to be.

Marked by its wit, its heart and its mesmerizing performances, “Tiger” truly takes off to become a cultural phenomenon in its fight sequences.

Choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, surpassing his landmark work in “The Matrix,” creates a precise, thrilling ballet of whirling arms, kicking feet and tumbling bodies that’s unrelenting in its intensity and creativity.

Couple those moves with the mournful sounds of Yo Yo Ma’s cello – not to mention with Lee’s decision to send his cast tripping across water, fighting within the limbs of a bamboo forest or flying straight through the air as if they were starring in a remake of “Peter Pan” – and you have a good idea of this film’s ability to stun its audiences with the unexpected.

It’s rare that one sees the face of cinema changed so grandly by a director working at the top of his form, but that’s just what Lee has done here.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is his masterpiece. A masterpiece.

Rent it yourself to see why.

Grade: A+