Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a young English writer with big ambitions, who went to Paris to write about freedom, beauty, truth and love. Ewan McGregor is thought of as a young good-looking and successful actor. McGregor is relatively tall, which would have been important, as his co-star Nicole Kidman is also very tall and it is important that the pair look right together to ensure that the scene is portrayed as it was intended to be by the writer. Although Ewan McGregor doesn’t play a character that is as motivated as Satine, his mannerisms are perfect, right from Christian’s anxiety of his first meeting with Satine, falling in love, right up to the end of the film, when he loses the love of his life. His body language towards Satine is always very close and caring, as they are in love and is always depicted to a high standard. Most importantly, Ewan McGregor also has an amazing singing voice, which hadn’t been discovered until this film. Christian is supposed to be an English writer, so it would be important for the actor to use an English accent, although Ewan McGregor is Scottish, he still uses a spot on English accent. Ewan McGregor, has also starred in many other films, including ‘Star Wars Episode 1 and 2’ and ‘Trainspotting’. McGregor’s success shows that he also shows an A-list status.
The combined acting skill of this talented duo gives us a beautiful impression of the lives of Christian and Satine and the love that they share. Their mannerisms and body language towards each other gives us a realistic approach towards the film and helps the audience to enjoy the story. The undiscovered singing voices of the actors make the film even more enjoyable, and telling the story through song is uncommon, but has worked well. I feel that Baz Lurmann could not have chosen a better set of actors to play the roles of Satine and Christian, who could show the love that they share any better.
At the start of the story, the audience are shown the village of Montmartre, Paris, where the story is set. The song that introduces the story is slow and is sung by Christian in a shaky voice as if he were to be crying. The moral to the story is within the words of the song, which is “The greatest gift you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”. The lighting is dim, which contributes to the dull and sad atmosphere, as Christian has just lost the love of his life. This is shown in black and white to show that it is a grim place to be and shows a time of sorrow. The pace of the camera varies at this point, as the shots are either very slow or very quick, which shows confusion and worry. When we eventually get to Christian, there is an extreme close-up on his eye, which he is hiding just behind his arm. This is so that we can see the tears in his eye, showing that he is sad. As the camera slowly zooms out, the audience can see that Christian can see that he is sat in the corner of a dark, spacious room, which shows that Christian is feeling alone, sad and isolated. The only lighting comes through the window, from the bright lights of the Moulin Rouge. This would show that Christian had spent a good night at the club when he met Satine, as the people who were there now would be. At this point, Christian’s clothing is very basic. He wears a pair of trousers, which are held up by a pair of braces, and a white t-shirt. His dirty clothes and unshaven appearance show that he feels so depressed, that he doesn’t feel the need to wash or change his clothes. We can also se that Christian has a beer bottle in his hand, showing that he has turned to drink as an attempt to forget about his first love Satine who he has just lost. In the room, a typewriter can also be seen, which is covered in cobwebs, symbolising that it has not been used recently, but the audience later discover that this is a sign that something is wrong, as we are told that Christian is a writer, who would frequently use a typewriter. We are then shown Christian writing on the typewriter, which begins the story. We are shown extreme close-ups of the writing on the typewriter. He is typing very slowly, so that the audience can take in the storyline, and to show that he is sad, and obviously wouldn’t have the enthusiasm to write whilst feeling like this.
We are now shown a wide angle of a train station, which is when Christian begins to tell us about his first taste of Paris after his journey from England.
