The Best Movies Featuring the Moulin Rouge

The Best Movies Featuring the Moulin Rouge

When you think of Paris, it’s likely that one of three things come straight to mind off the bat: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, a beret, or the Moulin Rouge.

This infamous cabaret venue lives in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, at the foot of the Montmartre Hill. It draws in travelers from far and wide, from all different age brackets and demographics, who want nothing more than to discover the allure of the world within.

Over the years there have been a few filmmakers who have dared to attempt to put the essence of the Moulin Rouge on screen. I take a closer look at each of them below.

Moulin Rouge – by Lola Delabays – Unsplash

The Moulin Rouge

Before we dive into the cinematic works that featured the cabaret, it’s important we are all on the same page about what the Moulin Rouge is at its core.

After years of tumultuous warfare, the Parisian public were given the splendor of both the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge in the same year: 1889.

The venue was to be one for entertainment and escapism, and originally featured an opium den buried deep within. Interestingly, the Moulin Rouge was the first building in all of Paris to receive electricity.

Moulin Rouge in Paris – by Vadim Sadovski – Unsplash

As the years rolled by, this became a sought after nightlife spot for all living in and visiting Paris. It became harder and harder to gain entry to as every evening would be completely sold out.

Inside, patrons were treated to eccentric cabaret performances, bottomless alcohol, singling, dancing and the occasional live performer; Edith Piaf even gave a handful of concerts inside this enchanting space.

For reasons why you should visit the Moulin Rouge while in Paris, click here!

Moulin Rouge! – 2001

Directed by Baz Luhrmann 

Many attempts were made in accurately portraying the magic of the Moulin Rouge on screen, but perhaps none of them were as well-done as Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film titled Moulin Rouge!

If you’re unfamiliar with Luhrmann’s work, you should know that he is famous for only working on a single project every few years, and working them to perfection.

His story of the Moulin Rouge is part fact and part fiction. Many of the characters involved in the screenplay actually existed within the business to some capacity. In the film, a lead character named Zidler plays both the performance ringmaster and the venue owner; in real life, the first owner of the Moulin Rouge was named Zidler.

Still from Moulin Rouge

In a breathtaking, symphonic musical journey we are shown the inner workings of this branch of show-business from the point of view of the cabaret’s star performer, Satine, played by Nicole Kidman.

Everything from the costumes and set, to the dialogue and characterizations, will have you pining for more. It’s a film one can watch repeatedly, probably forever, without ever tiring from the content.

Moulin Rouge – 1928

Directed by E. A. Dupont

Year’s before Baz Luhrmann would ever learn of the existence of the Moulin Rouge, director Ewald André Dupont made the first attempt to show this space on the big screen.

The motion picture released in 1928 was Dupont’s last silent film ever made. It was also shot entirely in black and white, as most things were at this point in history, so the story makes use of a well curated musical score as the only added multimedia element.

Still from Moulin Rouge – 1928

This was a British-made film that was shot half in London and half in Paris. The actual Moulin Rouge was used in part of the filming process.

The story follows a young aristocratic man who ends up falling for his girlfriend’s mother, who just so happens to be the star at the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris. The silent film is easy to follow and surprisingly entertaining.

French Cancan – 1954

Directed by Jean Renoir

In 1954, the son of the esteemed painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, made his own film starring the Moulin Rouge cabaret.

Jean Renoir wrote and directed this movie as a homage to both the club and the culture of Montmartre during the 20th century. Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge became quite the place of solace for a lot of struggling artists at the time; even Toulouse-Lautrec would sit in the corner of the cabaret exchanging sketches for drinks.

Still from French Cancan – 1954

The film follows the journey of a French cafe owner who loses all his money and decides to make his way to Montmartre, as other artists are doing.

Here he discovers that the cancan dance is being performed nightly in the Moulin Rouge and that the people are more than happy to pay to see it. In inspires his next few steps to creating a new life in Paris’ 18th.

Moulin Rouge – 1952

Directed by John Huston

As I just mentioned, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the artists who wound up spending a lot of time inside the Moulin Rouge.

There is speculation within the art world that the Moulin Rouge was responsible for a significant part of Toulouse-Lautrec’s rise to fame. It’s rumored that the artist spent every night inside the cabaret for a number of consecutive years.

Still from Moulin Rouge – 1952

John Huston sought to tell Toulouse-Lautrec’s story and explore his time inside of the Moulin Rouge in this feature film. Toulouse-Lautrec is the main character and is played by Pierre La Mure. In order to properly convey the artists short point of view, the cameramen walked on their hands and knees when filming the stage.

The team responsible for color correcting the final product edited the movie to look exactly like a Toulouse-Lautrec paining.

Au Cœur du Moulin Rouge – 2012

Directed by Marie Vabre

Perhaps the most poignant look inside the cabaret venue since Luhrmann’s film in 2001, Marie Vabre’s documentary “At the heart of the Moulin Rouge” finally gave audiences a real-life glimpse into the nightly occurrences that take place backstage.

The documentary gets close and personal with the dancers, managers and staff of the theatre. It shows the alluring good, and the exhausting, thankless bad that goes into this very physically taxing profession.