OTHER TECH

Starting with Strictly Ballroom, I wanted to develop a cinematic language that would allow both a simple, straightforward reading of a film as well as a more complex, metaphorical one. So, I reached back into the theatrical movies of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s that I love, like Singin' in the Rain, Citizen Kane, and Lola Montes - what I call the Red Curtain films - where the audiences were clearly aware at all times that they were watching a movie. Those audiences chose to accept the contract of the film, to go with the manipulation of it. They chose to participate in the experience. It's active cinema. So it's the absolute reverse of the basic rules of naturalism - and that's why it's so offensive to some people.

Yes, I've spoken to several friends who hated Moulin Rouge and walked out after half an hour. Absolutely. And by the way, they're walking out right at the contract-signing moment, and that is consistent. The contract-signing moment is actually 20 minutes in, and it's the same for all the films. If you can't surrender to it, then you will never be able to experience it, and you should get up and go.

I've also spoken to people who don't just love Moulin Rouge, they're in love with it, and they have to see it over and over. Yes. It's not uncommon to meet people who have seen it 30 or 40 times. What happens is that it's between them and the film. If you dig, say, a Beatles record or a great symphony, and you connect with it, you're having your own internal experience with it. As you play that piece of music over and over again in a lifetime, no matter how many people tell you, "It's good, it's bad, it's whatever," it's part of you. It's between you and the music or you and the film. Revelation of plot is not the only function of storytelling. This form of film has not been a dominant one since the advent of the idea in the early '50s that the value of cinema is the degree to which it can express naturalism.