Reflections of Opera in Moulin Rouge! Aesthetics, Gender and Social Class

This book traces the origins of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! (2001) to opera, employing a variety of theoretical frameworks to highlight their aesthetic and ideological correlation. Through intertextuality, allusions to opera are examined in terms of story, setting and character, while issues of social class, gender representation and orientalism are raised. Prominent examples from opera include Verdi's La Traviata, Puccini's La Bohème as well as 19th century French opera, such as works by Offenbach, Massenet and Gounod. Furthermore, the book explores how the formal elements of opera are translated into the film with a postmodern twist, thus enhancing the interplay between the two media. Moulin Rouge!'s theatricality and self-reflexivity renegotiate the tropes of stage performance, rendering the film a love letter to opera.