Having entered the Olympus of the visionary geniuses of film directing, Baz Luhrmann is considered one of the most interesting and innovative directors and screenwriters in world cinema. His genius and revolutionary art has given us some of the most moving films of our time. Let’s see some of them. 1. “Ballroom – Dance competition”, 1992
Scott Hastings is a ballroom dance champion, but he has decided to include unexpected steps in some choreographies, antagonizing the elders of the Federation. At the competitions she ventures into original choreographies that send her mother into a rage, the old glory of ballroom dancing, who dreams of a future as a star for her son. The boy, however, intends to dance his way in the prestigious Pan-Pacific Grand Prix competition and abandoned by his partner, he will find a new partner in and out of the dance halls in the young and introverted Puerto Rican Fran.
The film was snubbed by critics and is the stereotypical product of a neophyte, but since 1992 (the year the film was released) Luhrmann’s characteristic traits have come off the screen, demonstrating an innate ability to make cinema2. “Romeo + Juliet by William Shakespeare”, 1996
1990s, in the town of Verona Beach two families, the Montagues and the Capulets are at war with each other despite the efforts of the police chief and Friar Lorenzo to reconcile the two patriarchs. But the ways of destiny are strange and during a party Romeo Montecchi and Giulietta Capuleti know and fall in love, despite the spiral of hatred that binds them, the two young people will not be able to escape the soft wings of love.
With Romeo + Juliet by William Shakespeare Baz Luhrmann manages to transpose an immortal classic of literature into a real modern masterpiece without betraying the essence of the original. 3. “Moulin Rouge”, 2001
Paris 1899. Christian is a young London writer who, under the influence of the bohemian revolution, moves to the French capital to become a writer. Thanks to the knowledge of Lautrec, he enters the glossy and nefarious world of the Moulin Rouge, a nightclub run by the impresario Zidler. Here Christian, thanks to a series of misunderstandings, meets the restaurant’s etoile the beautiful Satine. The two fall in love but their feeling is hindered by the evil Duke, a financier who wants to keep Satine all to himself.
Successfully received at the Cannes Film Festival and winner of two Academy Awards, “Moulin Rouge” and the masterpiece Baz Luhrmann, a visually perfect musical with a noteworthy soundtrack, including the songs: “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles, “Roxanne” by The Police, “The Show Must Go On” by Queen and “Your Song” by Elton John, reinterpreted and re-proposed to link the plot and the development of the plot. 4. “Australia”, 2008
Australia 1939. Lady Sarah Ashley arrives from England, a noblewoman from an unhappy marriage in search of her husband, to take back home. Too bad that once she arrives, in a world at the antipodes of hers, the woman suddenly finds herself widowed and with a herd of 1500 head of cattle to be taken immediately to the city. Lady Ashley will have to fight against the cattle baron King Carney, who wants her property. To help her comes the rude herdsman Drover who will make her discover the secrets of the Australian continent and also her true love.
In 2008 Baz Luhrmann signed a blockbuster, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. 5. “The Great Gatsby”, 2013
New York, 1922. Nick Carraway moves to West Egg (Long Island) – in the neighborhood of the ‘new rich’ – with the dream of becoming a writer. Beyond the bay, signaled at night by the green light of a lighthouse, stands the enormous home of Jay Gatsby, an apparently very rich man whose legend will lead West Egg to fantasize about his life, first seen as a war hero and a gentleman. , and then as a smuggler and murderer. But among the many legends about his person and the origins of his amazing wealth, only Nick Carraway will be able to discover the truth.
