Question: Why was Toulouse crying at the end of the Elephant Love Medley? If I am correct he was sitting on a balcony eating and drinking when singing the words "How wonderful life is, now you're in the world." Is it just that he is happy about his dream of finally getting the Bohemian Play? Is it a potential that he is in love with Christian or Satine. Another possibility is that he just happy seeing Christian in love, since Christian previously stated that he had never been in love before?
Answer: Maybe it's sort of a foreshadowing.
Answer: He wallows in self-pity for a while, then eventually begins to write their story. There's no indication that he has any further links with the Moulin Rouge - it would probably be too painful for him. Christian actually states in the movie that the night Satine died was the last time he ever stepped foot in the Moulin Rouge.
In what scene did he state that I'm curious.
When he talks about going back there to see if she still loves him. Right before he goes back there that last time.
When Christian sneaks back in after having been tossed out, he says he returned to the Moulin Rouge one last time.
Question: Why does Satine decide not to run away with Christian, just because she finds out that she's dying? Why couldn't they have run away anyway, and escaped from the Duke entirely?
Answer: If Satine runs, the Duke takes control of the Moulin Rouge and shuts the place down, putting everyone she works with onto the streets. If she stays with the Duke, she'll still die, but the Duke won't have any real reason to shut things down. She could run away with Christian and have a few days of freedom and love with him, but she'd be condemning everyone at the Moulin Rouge to destitution, plus the Duke would probably have Christian hunted down and killed. By staying for her final few days, she saves everyone that she loves, at the price of her own happiness (and that of Christian, but at least she'll save his life).
Question: In the beginning of the film, the audience sees the Moulin Rogue in its original role as a bordello/nightclub. It's hugely successful, too - it's full of patrons literally throwing money at the dancers. Why does Zidler want to stop all of this in favour of making it a theatre? And if he's dead set on this, why not do it using the revenue he's already got, instead of entering into a deal with a Duke who is jealous and possessive beyond belief (with a personal assassin, no less) and giving him the property's deeds?
Answer: There is actually a deleted scene from the movie that explains this part. Zidler has run the Moulin Rouge into heavy debt because of his obsession with electric lighting, and the club will fold if he can't come up with the money to cover that debt. That is why he's so desperate to have Satine come through and secure the Duke's patronage. They're all sunk without that investment.
Answer: "Consumption" was the name given to many illnesses. She actually dies of TB.
Answer: Nope! Consumption is TB. Symptoms of lead poisoning are...Pain areas: in the abdomen or joints Gastrointestinal: constipation, nausea, or vomiting Developmental: learning disability or slow growth Whole body: fatigue or loss of appetite Behavioral: hyperactivity or irritability Also common: baby colic, headache, insomnia, or memory loss. Symptoms of TB...Pain areas: in the chest Pain circumstances: can occur while breathing Cough: can be chronic or with blood Whole body: chills, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, malaise, night sweats, or sweating Also common: loss of muscle, phlegm, severe unintentional weight loss, shortness of breath, or swollen lymph nodes Very different from each other.
Answer: Satine dies of Tuberculosis. It's really sad and heartbreaking. Harold keeps the fact Satine has it from her, until near the end of the movie, where he uses it to make her do as he says and that makes him the secondary villain in my opinion.
Answer: Lead Poisoning due to lipsticks and makeup being made out of it and her regular and heavy use of it.
Question: At the end of the Roxanne number it looked to me as if the Argentinean snapped Nini's neck, killing her as payment for her betrayal. I thought I saw her on stage at the end in the finale. With which part am I mistaken?
Answer: The Roxanne number was the Argentinian telling a story - he didn't really snap her neck. Either he pretended to (showing the man in the story killed his love), or it was simply a dance move that resembled one.
Question: Why do the Bohos have to evade Zidler in the first place? Zidler obviously knows Toulouse by sight, and doesn't seem to mind them being there too much when he sees them near the duke.
Question: Why does the black haired courtesan, (I believe her name is nini-legs-in-the-air) Give the game away to the duke? Is she supposed to have a specific problem with Satine, or Ewan Mcgregor, or both?
Answer: It's not clear, but it seems most likely that she resents Satine's status as top courtesan, and the rich clients that she attracts as a consequence. Trying to ingratiate herself with the rich Duke, while simultaneously bringing Satine down a notch or two, seems like part of this resentment.
Question: Was Moulin Rouge the only musical to purely use pre-existing songs, or have there been others?
Answer: Come What May was an original film composition, albeit for Romeo + Juliet, but it ended up not being used until Moulin Rouge! So, depending on how you want to look at that technicality, there could be an argument made that Moulin Rouge! did not use only "pre-existing songs." However, there have been other such musicals; Mamma Mia! being an example. Interesting to note that they both have exclamation marks as part of their titles.
Answer: Knights Tale being another.
Answer: Musicals that use pre-existing songs, or unreleased songs (i.e. songs written before the musical was written), are often called "jukebox musicals" and there's a long list of them going back to the 40's. Jukebox musicals also included musicals centering around an artist or band's album (sometimes these are referred to as "rock operas" and included "Tommy" by The Who and "The Wall" by Pink Floyd.
Answer: Also Rock of Ages is another example.
Answer: A musical that used preexisting songs is called a jukebox musical.
Question: Children could have been a good extra to the film. You could have had maybe Christian or Satine having a younger sister or brother and the Duke having a niece or nephew both about thirteen or twelve and instead of Tolouse finding out about the duke killing Christian, the Duke's niece could have talked to Christian or Satine's sister and the Duke found out that his niece or nephew had told and done something to her and then Satine or Christian's sibling could have gone to find them and had to rush to try to save Satine and Christian from going away from each other entirely. Maybe they could have had a little love story too within Christian and Satine's. What do you think? Why couldn't children have been put in the film?
Answer: It simply didn't happen. Why SHOULD they have done it. Just because it COULD have happened, doesn't mean they made a big mistake by NOT doing it. It's like saying "I really liked Star Wars, but why couldn't they have made it about a little guy with hairy feet who wanted to destroy a ring?" That just wasn't the plot they went with. But, on a more practical level, there could have been people complaining about children present hanging out with 'ladies of the night'.
Question: During the Roxanne number, why does Chocolat leave just in time to stop the Duke from raping her? How did he know she'd be in danger?
Answer: He didn't. If you recall in that scene the mood is very dark and everyone knows what Satine has to do in order to keep thier jobs and her job. But they all knew she was obligated to do it, so Chocolat took it upon himself to get Satine out of that situation before something bad happened, regardless of what happens to them later. As shown, he gets there in the nick of time.
Question: On the soundtrack the Argentinian can be heard on the "Because We Can" song. What is he singing? I can't make it out.
Answer: It's Toulouse: "I only speak the truth, I only speak the truth".
Answer: The Argentinian sings "Well, you can bump and grind" - lyrics from the T-Rex song "Children of the Revolution"
Question: In the beginning of the movie, Christian is living in a flat with a sign that says L'amour on the side of the building. Does the sign change to L'ament by the end of the movie, after Satine dies? Or is it just the angle of the shot? (00:02:20 - 01:58:15)
Chosen answer: It is in fact the angle of the shot, the sign L'amour is on Christians building throughout the movie, which means love in French.
Answer: It does say L'ament. I got it from the film script online. Toulouse: There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy (as we pass the windmill, to Christian's garret, it becomes day. The "L'amour" sign becomes "L'ament." Satine's bird sits in its gilded cage outside Christian's window. The bearded Christian types). L'amour means Love and L'ament means The Lover in French.
Question: During the Tango de Roxanne scene, it seems that there is a lot of tension between Nini and the Argentinean. Also, when he yells at Christian for falling in love with Satine, it is almost as if he is speaking from experience. Is this because he is actually in love with Nini or is it just a part of the song itself?
Question: What happened to Satine after she passed away? Did they bury her somewhere near the Moulin Rouge or leave her abandoned there?
Answer: That answer is simply not revealed in the film. I doubt her body would have been left abandoned. Once can presume that, according to the traditions of the time and location, she would have been buried. But where she was buried and by whom is simply not known.
Question: There is a song playing at the beginning of the movie, it starts just as Christian gives the narration "I first came to Paris 1 year ago. It was 1899, the summer of love. I knew nothing of the Moulin Rouge." The song itself is French and has a single voice singing with an accordion sounding instrument in the background, any idea what song that is?
Answer: The song is called "Complainte De La Butte" and is sung by Rufus Wainwright. It's on the soundtrack.
Question: During the song El Tango de Roxanne, towards the end someone starts speaking in French or Spanish. Who is speaking and what is the English translation?
Answer: The words are Spanish, but it's no one from the movie. "And I who love you so much; what am I going to do? You left me...you left me like a dove. My soul has left me; my heart has left me. I no longer wish to live because I cannot convince you not to sell yourself, Roxanne."
Answer: The way I saw it, that was Toulouse in present day singing, after the death of Satine etc.
He's a funny little man who is lonely himself. All he has is his bottle when everything is all said and done. He has nobody.