Type: Romantic
Film: Moulin Rouge
Featured Characters: Christian and Satine
Tragic love stories don’t always hit the hopeless romantics the way that stories that end with happy endings do. We want to watch a love story that lasts and endures. We want to see joy after all the angst. Yet, there’s an exception to this—a few films that, even while everything hurts, we could still appreciate the couple immensely. Such is the case with Christian and Satine and the beautiful love story crafted in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.
Moulin Rouge isn’t a happy story. It’s not a hopeful one either, even when it emphasizes the importance of truth, beauty, freedom, and love. Still, it’s a gorgeous tale to showcase that genuine adoration exists even when everything else in the world is crumbling. It’s a story about a love that lasts even when it ends with death because it’s a love that keeps a writer inspired—uplifted: “I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever.” Christian says as much as it’s precisely why their romance is easy to watch, no matter how much we end up crying in the end.
So, maybe it is a little hopeful after all. Perhaps it’s about the art of storytelling that works so perfectly in this movie.
Christian and Satine’s Love Story Is Timeless
Forbidden romances with no grossly unforgivable undertones of assault or creepy power imbalances consistently hit like a ton of bricks in fiction because they underscore the importance of love surviving despite the cards stacked against the duo. Christian and Satine should’ve never fallen in love, and while it’s love at first sight for him, it understandably takes her time to come around to the belief that he isn’t like all the men who visit the brothel. Through time and unbeatable sincerity, Christian helps her believe that he doesn’t merely want her for what she could give him, but he wants her because he sees a kindred spirit in her.
Christian, in a lot of ways, is a lost boy. His father doesn’t understand or respect him. We know very little about his mother, and he’s someone who wants to see the world for all its glory. Like Satine, he wants to fly away, and only he gets to do that when he comes to Paris to become a writer. He has the opportunity to continue, and in the short amount of time where he loves Satine, he reminds her that all her desires matter, even when she feels they don’t—even when she’s lost still, distrustful, and hopeless. It’s a short and sweet affair, but it’s one that’s wholeheartedly sincere because of how open the two of them are with one another.
Maybe that’s why the romance in Moulin Rouge unfailingly hits. Because Christian’s sincerity tells viewers that men can and should be sensitive. They can and should be loud with how ardently they love. Christian doesn’t always make the best decisions; both in the film and in the Broadway musical, I loathe how he’s so lovesick at one point that he reacts poorly during the play. But with scenarios like this, questioning his motives is often necessary. Moulin Rouge caters to the patriarchy of the time, but it simultaneously ensures that, unlike the men who come to the brothel, Christian isn’t ever a threat to Satine.
No matter jealousy’s vicious snare, he’d never ever do anything to hurt her. There’s an innocence to him that changes and evolves into something more complex throughout the film, which is by virtue of both how much he loves Satine and the grief of losing her. And amid all this, his sincerity never wavers. His genuine care for her never crumbles, no matter how much he’s pushed over the edge. His love only grows, and so, he immortalizes her by telling their story.
She believed in the fact that he was a capable writer, even while he was still figuring things out, which led to his confidence in telling their story later on. He gives her hope in the little time they have together, and she gives him an unwavering faith that carries him through life.
In their short time together, the writing, directing, and performances from Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor make it clear that Christian and Satine understand each other on a profound level rooted in giving one another agency. For two people who didn’t always have the safe space to fully be themselves, around each other, they can be. They can be exactly who they want, and they know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the other will still love them wholeheartedly.
Further, much of what we see about their relationship and why we can be certain that they would’ve been a pair who could’ve made it lies in the details of the “Elephant Love Medley.” It’s something I’ve written about extensively before, so I’ll bring back a detail that essentially cements how their love is timeless.
Much like Christian and Satine’s love story, the “Elephant Love Medley” is an integral part of the film and, quite frankly, the song that hits the hardest. Whether in the Broadway production or the original film, the story shifts exponentially when Christian tries to convince Satine that they should give love a chance. Further, while the jukebox blends play a significant role in the plausible start, much of their romance’s spirit is rooted in the dialogue.
If, like me, you lose sleep thinking about the softer emphasis in Ewan McGregor’s voice when he responds to Satine’s “you will be mean” with “no, I won’t,” then you came to the right place. Because ultimately, while the “Elephant Love Medley” is sensational, it’s the dialogue that promises the best kind of romance. Christian’s doe-eyed behavior shows the audience that he’s a man who falls hard and fast, but his innate kindness through his response indicates that this relationship will be special.
Whatever the reasoning, nothing is more apparent during the “Elephant Love Medley” than Christian’s sincerity in “no, I won’t.” You don’t even have to watch the scene to be able to hear his jovial benevolence. McGregor packs one punch after another with his performance during this number, but none hit as evocatively as the promise of perpetual kindness.
Theirs is a love story that endures because it’s a story that centers around kindness. It follows two people who have very little, giving each other every part of them because of a love that’s so deep, it’s all-consuming. It’s a love story between equals and soul mates. It’s a love story that doesn’t waver despite the fears that crash and burn on them. We don’t get enough time with the two of them. It’s also unfortunate how much they have to sneak around, but what they give each other in a short amount of time is their soul’s purpose. They give one another concrete proof that love can heal old wounds and it can restore faith in humanity, too.
As a film, Moulin Rouge is about acceptance. It’s about embracing the pieces of ourselves that are messy and a little wild. It’s about the imperfections marrying the joy and the laughter. Christian and Satine’s story fits perfectly into this world, acting as a balm to showcase that love can save even the most heartbroken souls from a life of entrapment and sadness.