Editing Moulin Rouge! (section)

===Writing and inspiration===
''Moulin Rouge!'' was influenced by an eclectic variety of comic and melodramatic musical sources, including the [[Musical film|Hollywood musical]], "[[vaudeville]], [[cabaret|cabaret culture]], stage musicals, and operas." Its musical elements also allude to Luhrmann's earlier film ''[[Strictly Ballroom]].''<ref name=Kinder>{{cite journal|last=Kinder|first=Marsha|title=Moulin Rouge|journal=[[Film Quarterly]]|volume=55|issue=3|pages=52–53|date=Spring 2002|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/fq/article-abstract/55/3/52/28826/Moulin-Rouge?redirectedFrom=fulltext|doi=10.1525/fq.2002.55.3.52|issn=0015-1386|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[Giacomo Puccini|Giacomo Puccini's]] opera ''[[La bohème]]'', which Luhrmann directed at the [[Sydney Opera House]] in 1993, was a key source of the plot for ''Moulin Rouge!''.<ref name=ConnerBennett>{{cite journal|last=Conner Bennett|first=Kathryn|title=The gender politics of death: Three formulations of ''La Bohème'' in contemporary cinema|journal=[[Journal of Popular Film and Television]]|volume=32|issue=3|page=114|date=2004|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01956051.2004.10662056|doi=10.1080/01956051.2004.10662056|s2cid=154025769|issn=1930-6458|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Further stylistic inspiration came from Luhrmann's encounter with [[Bollywood]] films during his visit to [[India]] while conducting research for his 1993 production of [[Benjamin Britten|Benjamin Britten's]] opera ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Janet W.|title=How a Bollywood film inspired Baz Luhrmann to bring 'Moulin Rouge' to Broadway|website=[[Yahoo! Entertainment]]|date=28 October 2020|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bollywood-film-inspired-baz-luhrmann-184119779.html|access-date=1 April 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129141105/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bollywood-film-inspired-baz-luhrmann-184119779.html|archive-date=29 November 2020}}</ref> According to Luhrmann:
{{blockquote|. . . we went to this huge, ice cream picture palace to see a Bollywood movie. Here we were, with 2,000 Indians watching a film in [[Hindi]], and there was the lowest possible comedy and then incredible drama and tragedy and then break out in songs. And it was three-and-a-half hours! We thought we had suddenly learnt Hindi, because we understood everything! We thought it was incredible. How involved the audience were. How uncool they were – how their coolness had been ripped aside and how they were united in this singular sharing of the story. The thrill of thinking, 'Could we ever do that in the West? Could we ever get past that cerebral cool and perceived cool.' It required this idea of comic-tragedy. Could you make those switches? Fine in [[Shakespeare]] – low comedy and then you die in five minutes. . . . In ''Moulin Rouge!'', we went further. Our recognisable story, though [[Orphean (mythology)|Orphean]] in shape, is derived from ''[[La Dame aux Camélias|Camille]]'', ''La Boheme'' – whether you know those texts or not, you recognise those patterns and character types.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Andrew |first=Geoff |date=7 September 2001 |title=Baz Luhrmann (I) |work=Guardian interviews at the [[BFI]] |agency=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/07/1 |url-status=live |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509221831/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/07/1 |archive-date=9 May 2014}}</ref>}}

In the DVD's [[audio commentary]], Luhrmann revealed that he also drew from the [[Greek tragedy]] of [[Orpheus and Eurydice]]. The filmmakers projected the Orpheus figure onto Christian by characterizing the latter as a musical [[genius]] whose talent surpassed that of everyone else in his world. The film's use of songs from the mid- to late 20th century in the 1899 setting makes Christian appear ahead of his time as a musician and writer. ''Moulin Rouge!''′s plot also parallels that of the myth: "McGregor, as a poet who spouts deathless verse . . . , descends into a hellish underworld of prostitution and musical entertainment in order to retrieve Kidman, the singing courtesan who loves him but is enslaved to a diabolical duke. He rescues her but looks back and . . . cue [[Queen (band)|Queen's]] '[[The Show Must Go On (Queen song)|The Show Must Go On]].'"<ref>{{cite news|last=Green|first=Jesse|title=How do you make a movie sing?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/13/magazine/how-do-you-make-a-movie-sing.html|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=13 May 2001|access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref>

Commentators have also noted the similarities between the film's plot and those of the opera ''[[La Traviata]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eno.org/discover-opera/la-traviata-in-pop-culture/|title=La traviata in pop culture|date=n.d.|website=Discover opera|publisher=[[English National Opera]]|access-date=15 January 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930093718/https://eno.org/discover-opera/la-traviata-in-pop-culture/|archive-date=30 September 2020}}</ref> and [[Émile Zola|Émile Zola's]] novel ''[[Nana (novel)|Nana]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Magedanz|first=Stacy|title=Allusion as form: ''The Waste Land'' and ''Moulin Rouge!''|journal=[[Orbis Litterarum]]|volume=62|issue=2|page=160|date=2006|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0730.2006.00853.x|s2cid=170576709 |url=https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=library-publications|access-date=27 January 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809060749/https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=library-publications|archive-date=9 August 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Other cinematic elements appear to have been borrowed from the musical films ''[[Cabaret (1972 film)|Cabaret]]'',<ref name=Mitchell>{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Elvis|title=An eyeful, an earful, an anachronism: Lautrec meets Lady Marmalade|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/movies/film-review-an-eyeful-an-earful-anachronism-lautrec-meets-lady-marmalade.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 May 2001|access-date=5 February 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527164930/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/movies/film-review-an-eyeful-an-earful-anachronism-lautrec-meets-lady-marmalade.html|archive-date=27 May 2015}}</ref> ''[[Folies Bergère de Paris]]'', and ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]''.<ref name="AFI">{{cite web|url=http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53921|title=Moulin Rouge!|website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|date=n.d.|access-date=4 July 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704035742/http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53921|archive-date=4 July 2018}}</ref>

The character of Satine was based on the French [[can-can]] dancer [[Jane Avril]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Levy|first=Paul|title=The artistry of Toulouse-Lautrec and his dancing muse Jane Avril|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=17 June 2011|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304259304576377421861840808|access-date=30 April 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816112452/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304259304576377421861840808|archive-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> The character of Harold Zidler shares his last name with [[Charles Zidler]], one of the owners of the real Moulin Rouge. Satie was loosely based on the French composers [[Erik Satie]] and [[Maurice Ravel]]. Môme Fromage, Le Pétomane, and Le Chocolat share their names with performers at the actual cabaret. [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Greta Garbo]] and [[Rita Hayworth]] were cited as inspirations for the film's "look."<ref name="AFI" />