Actress Allison Janney has an Oscar nomination for playing Tonya Harding's mother in "I, Tonya"; several Olympic ice skaters are using songs from Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge"; the N.Y. attorney general filed a civil rights lawsuit that could halt sale of The Weinstein Co.
Baz Luhrmann's 'Moulin Rouge!' gets new life on the Olympic ice
If you've been watching the Olympics, you may have noticed a common theme in the figure skating events.
Many of the athletes — including Canadian gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir — set their routines to music from the soundtrack to the 2001 film, “Moulin Rouge.” Baz Luhrmann, director of the film, even tweeted his approval:
Moulin Rouge on ice! It’s moving to see so many champions skating their way to
to the music from
, including
's
&
⛸
— Baz Luhrmann (@bazluhrmann)
Moulin Rouge on ice! It’s moving to see so many champions skating their way to @pyeongchang2018 to the music from #MoulinRouge, including @TeamCanada's @tessavirtue & @ScottMoir ⛸ #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/SeM9tsS8ZY
— Baz Luhrmann (@bazluhrmann) February 3, 2018
When The Frame's John Horn called up Luhrmann to get his take on all this Olympic love, he was in the middle of working on a new project, but he took some time out to share his thoughts.
"Moulin Rouge!" in its own language is operatic. Yes, it's a musical. And yes, it's a post-modern musical. But its emotions are operatic. You go from great romance to ridiculous, over-the-top comedy, but also tragedy and dark themes. So a track like "Roxanne," the tango of that, gives ice skaters high drama, great romance and some fun, thrill and excitement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, only since 2014 have figure skaters been able to use lyrics in their performance music. Luhrmann believes the music from his film can lend even greater drama to ice skate routines.
Vincent Zhou — who's on the USA team — he does "Nature Boy." When I recorded that track with David Bowie singing it, and when he sings that Eden Ahbez song, and you see a young boy like Vincent Zhou dancing on the ice, it's as if it's what's going on in his head. If they skated and actually sang the lyrics, the lyrics would not be out of place.
Hard to image when recording this with the incomparable
that it would power
, member of
, in the
games and tonight’s ceremony. Best wishes to all the skaters!
— Baz Luhrmann (@bazluhrmann)
Hard to image when recording this with the incomparable @DavidBowieReal that it would power @govincentzhou, member of @TeamUSA, in the @pyeongchang2018 games and tonight’s ceremony. Best wishes to all the skaters! #PyeongChang2018 #moulinrouge pic.twitter.com/JvjZJfvPA4
— Baz Luhrmann (@bazluhrmann) February 10, 2018