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Moulin Rogue as a postmodern film (1 Viewer)

revhead.meg

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Hey guys,
I've got an assessment where i needed to find a postmodern film so i chose Moulin Roue. My thesis point is that 'Moulin Rogue' as a postmodern film can it be valued by a contemporary society.

The techniques i've pulled out so far are pastiche, eclecticism, challenging of construction (through the subverting of genre), intertexuality and humour.

Now i've identified them in my text but i need some tips on how to sophisticatedly discuss them in my speech, so im calling on all your knowledge.
=)

Any points you have to offer i really appreciate.
thanks guys =)
 

ur_inner_child

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But there is so much you could pull out of this! It is so rich in everything!
 
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if you already know the points and examples you're going to bring up, just make sure you speech answers the question, and do lots of impromptu practice runs to help identify where the rough patches are, then fix them :)
 

revhead.meg

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Under the direction of Baz Luhrmann the film Moulin Rogue was composed under a postmodern light. Moulin Rouge is a pastiche that plays with genre as the film is able to present itself as both a comedy and tragedy; doing so through the use of ‘heightened language’ to place extra emphasis on the ‘heightened world’ the film is set in; primarily through song. The film then breaks out of this pastiche as the story begins to be rapidly focalized through various perspectives in order to embrace all viewpoints of the what seems to be a rather cliché story. Moulin Rouge thus becomes a postmodern text that is eclectic in nature and as a result is seen as humorous and entertaining to its contemporary audience.
These techniques utilized in the film are what constitutes Moulin Rouge to be a postmodern text, yet is able to simultaneously foreground the perpetual nature of particular values and how they have remained constant through out societies continual changes. Therefore, Moulin Rouge can undoubtedly be valued by a contemporary society due to its clever composition that foregrounds both the challenge of construction and the crisis of representation.



any comments? feedback...
 

revhead.meg

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here's my finshed assignment i scored 71% lowest in my class...
any suggestions on how to make it better?
 

slinkysezzy

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i wanted to do moulin rouge!!! but i got told that it wasn't post modern because of the whole "love is everything theme" ....i was soooo cut.
 

eyestodiefor

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of course its a postmodern film, its a montage of filmic eras and 'spectacle' through the ages - despite being set in the late 1800's/early 1900's its main focus points are on different eras in film history. take for instance the role of satnine - she pasty as anything; but she was picked for the reason that before lighting and such was really popular and common in film - extremely white and pasty women were cast who gave the impression of almost literally 'glowing' under the little lights they did have by reflection.

in terms of spectacle as an aspect of postmodernism - the film is highly style over substance; luhrman doesn't play games with narrative, which is a fairly current narrative structure. it is for this reason that the film begins with ewans declaration of that 'the woman i love is dead' or something to that effect. the narration then unfolds to explain the circumstances under which it came about.

also, another highly postmodern aspect of the film, lies in lurhmans ability to recreate certain atmospheres for audiences of our time - contextual demographics. for example - the moulin rouge did exist, and was in lower class france, where people from the street were taken and turned into whores etc. however, back in those times, lighting was very limited, which means a completely different atmosphere. Lurhman has however recreated the same sensation of being at the moulin rouge for current audiences, by splashing around colours, themes, mortality, and societal attitudes.

theres not a whole lot about this film that isnt postmodern - the whole 'love is a many splendid thing love, lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love' aspect is challeneged, so despite that its based around what would appear to be a 'universal truth' - the film actually challenges this 'ideal'. and isnt the notion of questioning the basis to the rest of most of what we understand to be postmodern?

71%s not bad a mark though, pm doesnt click with everyone the first time with which theyre confronted with it. theres a lot on the net and in uni online libraries about his trilogy as pm films, so perhaps its more your research etc that could have helped you out.
 

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