Comprehensive essay that attained 100% on Baz Luhrmann's fulfilment of the role of an auteur in film making. Contains references to the films "Moulin Rouge", "Australia", "Strictly Ballroom", "The Great Gatsby" and "Romeo + Juliet" to showcase Luhrmann's directing techniques.
Essay on Baz Luhrmann as an Auteur
Isabella Rowley
Grade 12
The creative vision presented by Baz Luhrmann in each of his films prove his distinctive
style and nuanced approach to the telling of a story. He creates entirely different worlds in his
films, in order to fully engage with his audience and provide the sensational viewing
experience that viewers have come to expect from his films. The culmination of theatrical
performance and film in Moulin Rouge, as well as his blend of historical events and the
Western genre in Australia, render Luhrmann an auteur. This will be further explored through
his signature style in the Red Curtain Trilogy, his unique interpretation of an ‘epic’, and the
distinguishable nature of his films that never fails to capture the attention of his audience.
Luhrmann’s debut of the Red Curtain Trilogy launched him to success, and reflected his
creative directing style that gained the respect of many in the film industry. The trilogy
consists of Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet, all having vibrant settings,
colours, and music to create a heightened world that demands the participation of the
audience through providing an almost continuous sensory overload. The simplistic narrative
of the films is transformed to become an entirely new world of real artificiality, through the
use of visual aesthetics and Luhrmann’s display of “all the elements of the medium” (Cook,
unknown) in the creation of this unique genre of film. Moulin Rouge, in particular presents
the audience with a unique perspective on a 19th century Parisian love story through the use of
formalist techniques, editing, and mise en scène.
The film opens with red curtains, to symbolize the transportation of the audience to
Luhrmann’s creative world, and foreshadows the theatrical experience of the film. His script
uses popular songs to form part of dialogue, such as “Diamond’s are a Girl’s Best Friend”,
thus reinventing the traditional musical, and bringing it to life with the actors singing live on
camera. Extravagance is evident in this film through the dazzling costume choices, and
jewellery to present materialism as an opposition to love to his audience. Fast camera
cutting, super macro slam zooms, and whip pans are used to convey the invigorating energy
of the performances at the Moulin Rouge, while close up, more naturalistic shots convey the
intimacy between Christian and Satine. Additionally, he employs a signature ‘vortex’
technique, where characters are positioned as central to their surroundings, as employed to
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