Moulin Rouge!

There was a boy

A very strange enchanted boy

They say he wandered very far

Very far

Over land and sea

Don't be fooled! Evil!

A little shy

Turn away from this village of sin!

And sad of eye

But very wise

Was he

And then one day

A magic day

He passed my way

And while we spoke of many things

Fools and kings

This he said to me

The greatest thing

You'll ever learn

Is just to love

And be loved

In return

The Moulin Rouge.

A nightclub...

...a dance hall and a bordello...

...ruled over by Harold Zidler.

A kingdom of nighttime pleasures...

...where the rich and powerful played with...

...the young and beautiful creatures of the underworld.

The most beautiful of all these...

...was the woman who I loved.

Satine.

A courtesan, she sold her love to men.

They called her "The Sparkling Diamond."

And she was the star...

...of the Moulin Rouge.

The woman I loved...

...is...

...dead.

I first came to Paris...

...one year ago.

lt was 1 899, the Summer of Love.

I knew nothing of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler or Satine.

The world had been swept up in a Bohemian revolution, and l had...

...travelled from London to be a part of it.

On the hill near Paris was the village of Montmartre.

It was not, as my father said--

A village of sin.

--but the center of the Bohemian world.

Musicians, painters, writers.

They were known as the Children of the Revolution.

Yes. I had come to live a penniless existence. I had come to...

...write about truth, beauty, freedom...

...and that which l believed in above all things: love.

Always this ridiculous obsession with love!

There was only one problem.

I'd never been in love.

Luckily, right at that moment, an unconscious Argentinean fell through my roof.

He was joined by a dwarf dressed as a nun.

How do you do?

My name is Henri Marie Raymond Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa.

I'm terribly sorry. We were upstairs rehearsing a play.

A play. Something very modern called Spectacular Spectacular.

It's set in Switzerland.

Unfortunately, he unconscious Argentinean suffered from narcolepsy.

Perfectly fine one moment, then suddenly:

- ...unconscious the next. Ha, ha. - How is he?

Wonderful. The narcoleptic Argentinean is unconscious.

Therefore the scenario will not be finished to present to the financier tomorrow.

I still have to finish the music. We just find someone to read the part.

Where in heaven's name are we going to find someone to read the role...

...of the young, sensitive Swiss poet goatherder?

Before I knew it, I was upstairs, standing in for the unconscious Argentinean.

The hills animate

With the euphonious symphonies Of descant

Oh, stop! Stop that insufferable droning!

It's drowning out my words!

Can we just stick to a little decorative piano?

There seemed to be artistic differences over Audrey's lyrics to Satie's song.

Don't think a nun would say that about a hill.

What if he sings, "The hills are vital intoning the descant"?

"The hills quake and shake--" No, no, no. "The hills--"

"The hills are incarnate with symphonic melodies"!

No. "The hills--" "The hills--"

"The hills--" "The hills--"

The hills

Are alive

With the sound of

Music

"The hills are alive with the sound of music." I love it!

The hills are alive.... With the sound....

Of music.

It fits perfectly!

With songs they have sung

For a thousand years

Incandiferous!

Audrey, you should write the show together. I beg your pardon?

But Toulouse's suggestion that Audrey and I write together...

...was not what Audrey wanted to hear. Goodbye!

Here's to your first job in Paris.

Toulouse, Zidler will never agree.

No offense, but have you ever written anything like this before?

No. Ah! The boy has talent!

I like him.

Nothing funny. I just like talent.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music."

With Christian, we can write...

...the truly Bohemian revolutionary show we always dreamt of.

How will we convince Zidler?

Toulouse had a plan.

Satine.

They would dress me in the Argentinian's best suit...

...and pass me off as a famous English writer.

Once Satine heard my poetry, she'd be astounded and insist to Zidler that...

...I write Spectacular Spectacular.

The only problem was I kept hearing my father's voice:

You'll end up wasting your life at the Moulin Rouge with a cancan dancer!

I can't write the show for the Moulin Rouge! Why not?

I don't even know if I am a true Bohemian revolutionary.

Do you believe in beauty? Yes.

Freedom? Yes, of course.

Truth? Yes.

Love?

Love? Love?

Above all things, I believe in love.

Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendored thing.

Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!

See, you can't fool us. You're the voice of the Children of the Revolution.

We can't be fooled!

Let's drink to the new writer of the world's first Bohemian revolutionary show!

It was the perfect plan.

I was to audition for Satine and I would taste my first glass of absinthe.

There was a boy

I am the green fairy.

The hills are alive

With the sound of music

Freedom, beauty

Truth and love

The hills are alive

With the sound of music

We were off to the Moulin Rouge.

And I was to perform my poetry for Satine.

The Moulin Rouge.

Harold Zidler and his infamous girls.

They called them his "Diamond Dogs."

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi Ce soir?

Hey, sister, go, sister Soul sister, go, sister

If life's an awful bore

And living's just a chore

That you do 'cause death's not much fun

I've just the antidote

And though l mustn't gloat

At the Moulin Rouge You'll have fun

So scratch that little niggle

Give a little wiggle

You know that you can

Because we

Can cancan

Don't say you can't can't can't

You know you can cancan

Don't say you can't Because you can

Here we are now

Entertain us

We feel stupid

And contagious

Got some dark desire Love to play with fire

Why not let it rip? Live a little bit

We can cancan

Don't say you can't can't can't

You know you can cancan

You can cancan

Outside, it may be raining

But in here it's entertaining!

If you love love love To be free free free

The Moulin Rouge is the place to be

Because we can cancan

Yes, we can cancan!

Here we are now Entertain us

Outside, things may be tragic

But in here we feel it's magic

The cancan.

Because we can cancan

Go, sister Soul sister

Hey, sister, go, sister Soul sister, go, sister

Citchy-citchy yah-yah, dah, dah

Citchy-citchy yah-yah here

Because we can cancan

Yes, we can cancan

Creole Lady Marmalade

Because we can cancan

'Cause it's good for your mind

Christian.

Mission accomplished. We've successfully evaded Zidler.

It's her. The Sparkling Diamond.

The French are glad to

Die for love

They delight

In fighting duels

But someone else was to meet Satine that night.

But I prefer