Merci Beaucoup to everyone that joined us for Moulin Rouge! with Wine on Saturday.
Read on for details on all the wines from the evening, our gallery of photos, and Moulin Rouge! trivia.
Le Vin du Moulin ..
Cremant de Limoux, Languedoc, France - Waitrose £13.99
The bendictine Monks of Limoux taught Dom Perignon how to make sparkling wine. He returned to the village of Champagne, which only made red wine at the time, and created the region's first 'Champagne'. 'Come Quickly' he told his fellow Monks upon tasting his first cuvee, 'I am tasting the stars'.
Made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, just like Champagne, this also includes 20% Chenin Blanc grapes and no Pinot Meunier. Rich, biscuity and bursting with citrus notes.
Villemarin Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France - Majestic £11.99 per bottle or £10.49 as part of a mixed case of six
Picpoul vines are almost exclusively grown in Picpoul de Pinet – an appellation next to the Languedoc’s Thau lagoon near Montpellier.
Incredibly zesty, with intense lemon and grapefruit flavours, and a refreshing minerality.
Espirit de Buganay, Côtes de Provence, France - Waitrose £14.99
A blend of Cinsaut, Syrah and Grenache from the classic southern French region of Provence – known for its wonderful rosés. Filled with red berry fruit flavours and light, subtle spices on the finish.
Jean Bon Merlot, Languedoc, France - Majestic £8.99 per bottle or £8.49 as part of a mixed case of six
Merlot from Bordeaux is typically blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to soften a Bordeaux blend but these Merlot grapes are grown in the South of France, benefitting from a warmer climate and offering a juicier, jammier Merlot wine offering notes of raspberry, blackberry and black pepper.
Remy Ferbras Cotes du Rhone Villages, Rhone Valley, France - Majestic £11.99 per bottle or £9.99 as part of a mixed case of six
A blend of grenache, syrah and mourdevre grapes from only the top cru villages within the Rhone Valley, help make this deliciously silky and juicy red wine.
La Gallerie
Anecdote du Moulin
Some highlights from last night's trivia ...
Originally, the green fairy was going to be a long-haired muscle man with a giant sitar and Ozzy Osbourne was hired to provide the vocals. Eventually it was changed to the current "Tinker Bell" incarnation, played by Kylie Minogue, but Osbourne still gives voice to the fairy's guttural scream when it turns evil.
Filming was halted for two weeks in November 1999 after Nicole Kidman fractured two ribs and injured her knee while rehearsing a dance routine for the film. Many of the scenes where she is seen only from the chest up, including "a real actress," were shot while she was in a wheelchair.
The necklace worn by Nicole Kidman was made of real diamonds and platinum and was the most expensive piece of jewelry ever specifically made for a film. The Stefano Canturi necklace was made with 1,308 diamonds, weighing a total of 134 carats and was worth an estimated U.S. $1 million.
Nicole Kidman had to be replaced in the film Panic Room (2002) because of injuries she suffered while filming this film.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Heath Ledger were contenders to play Satine and Christian. Other possible Christians included Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ronan Keating. Other possible Satines included Kate Winslet, Hilary Swank, Renée Zellweger, Drew Barrymore, Natalie Mendoza, Sharleen Spiteri, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Tim Wheeler, of the rock band Ash, auditioned for the lead role of Christian, which led him to write the track "Orpheus." Courtney Love auditioned for Satine, and allowed Baz Luhrmann to use Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the opening sequence, a rare case of allowing her late husband Kurt Cobain's work to be used in film or TV.
However, Baz Luhrmann hired Marilyn Manson to sing "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which made Courtney Love very angry as she and Manson had a longstanding feud. She evoked the performer approval clause in her contract, forcing production to find an unknown band to re-record the song six days before the movie's opening.
The Elephant medley contains parts of several famous and not-so-famous love songs. These include "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles, "I Was Made for Loving You" by KISS, "One More Night" by Phil Collins, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston, "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney, "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, "Heroes" by David Bowie, "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton, and "Your Song" by Elton John.
Cat Stevens would not license his song "Father and Son," which was the first musical number in the original script, because of his current religious beliefs. He objected to the sexual content in the film. The scene featuring "Father and Son" was to have been between Christian and his father in his father's office, with all his father's employees joining in for the chorus. This was to be the segue into his leaving home for Paris. The scene is included in the complete script on the Special Edition DVD.
"Come What May" was written by David Baerwald for Romeo + Juliet (1996) but not used. In Moulin Rouge! (2001), it is newly written for the stage show by Christian. It is the only completely original song in the entire film. However, because it was written for another film, it was disqualified for the Oscars' Best Song award.
The song "My Way,"made popular by Frank Sinatra, was considered to be performed by The Duke for the film, but this never developed. However, The Duke still repeatedly yells, "My way!" during the finale.
Jim Broadbent took two and a half hours every day to be fitted into his fat suit. In the "Like a Virgin" number, his voice is dubbed by opera singer Anthony Weigh, mimicking Broadbent's own vocal performance. The floor was rubbed in with Coca Cola so the dancers wouldn't slip. This segment, Richard Roxburgh's favorite experience from the production, took a week to film.
Heath Ledger lost the lead role when it was determined he was too young to be a romantic interest for Nicole Kidman. He was so angry at Baz Luhrmann that years later he refused to work with him in Australia (2008).
The majority of the Can Can dancers at the Moulin Rouge have a specifically designed 'persona,' most of them based on different male fetishes. The full list of names of the Can Can dancers and their 'persona' is as follows: Antoinette -- based on the famous French Queen Marie-Antoinette. Arabia -- based on Arabian courtesan garb. Babydoll -- dressed in infant clothing (often mistaken for Bo Peep). Chinadoll -- dressed in Chinese silks. Dominatrix -- self-explanatory. French Maid -- self-explanatory. Garden Girl -- a hippie/bohemian/earthy-seeming girl. Gypsy -- self-explanatory. Harlequin -- based on a court jester's diamond patterned costume. Historic -- based on the Statue of Liberty. Juno -- dressed as an angel. Liberty -- dressed in 'Napoleonic' garb. Mome Fromage - Dressed in candy/cake/confectionery colors and fabrics. Nini Legs-In-The-Air -- costume decorated with windmills, as the character is said to have the best legs in the Moulin Rouge and is always showing them off. Pearly Queen -- decorated in sophisticated clothing; pearls, furs, jewels. Petite Princess -- a dwarf woman in a princess costume. Polka Dot -- a spirit of winter with evergreen trees drawn on her dress. Schoolgirl -- self-explanatory (strongly resembles Gigi (1958) or Madeline (1952)). Spanish -- dressed in a flowing, veiled Spanish costume. Tarot -- costume is decorated with various imagery from tarot cards. Tartan -- costume is a full traditional Scottish Garb, with the skirt designed to look like a kilt. Tattoo -- dancer is covered entirely from the neck down in tattoos. Travesty -- cross-dresser, upper half is of an upper-class man; top hat, tuxedo, and bow tie. Urchin -- dressed as a poor street girl (strongly resembles Eponine from Les Misérables in Concert (1995)); bowler hat, patchwork costume.
Various tricks were used to make John Leguizamo's (Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa) legs appear shorter. Some shots are of his stand-in who was of the correct height, while in others he walked on his knees in special leg braces and wearing blue socks so that his lower legs could be digitally removed. Leguizamo did the entire climactic scene from a squatting position to give him greater mobility in his role. Consequently he had to endure several weeks of physical therapy afterwards.
When asked about his inspiration for the film, Baz Luhrmann remarked:
"When I was in India researching Midsummer Night's Dream, we went to this huge, ice cream picture palace to see a Bollywood movie. Here we were, with 2,000 Indians watching a film in Hindi, and there was the lowest possible comedy and then incredible drama and tragedy and then break out in songs. And it was three-and-a-half hours! We thought we had suddenly learnt Hindi, because we understood everything! We thought it was incredible. How involved the audience were. How uncool they were - how their coolness had been ripped aside and how they were united in this singular sharing of the story. The thrill of thinking, 'Could we ever do that in the West? Could we ever get past that cerebral cool and perceived cool.' It required this idea of comic-tragedy. Could you make those switches? Fine in Shakespeare - low comedy and then you die in five minutes. . . . In 'Moulin Rouge', we went further. Our recognisable story, though Orphean in shape, is derived from Camille, La Boheme - whether you know those texts or not, you recognise those patterns and character types".
The production was over-running in its shooting schedule and had to be out of the Fox Studios in Sydney to make way for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - which also featured Ewan McGregor. This necessitated some pick-up shots being filmed in Madrid.
Nicole Kidman plays a character named Satine, loved by Christian, played by Ewan McGregor. Ewan McGregor plays Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels and Kenobi series. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Obi-Wan Kenobi is inferred to have feelings for a character named Satine.
This movie was launched in Australia to an audience of just 250 people in a small country town called Taree, 200 miles north of Sydney. Baz Luhrmann grew up just outside of Taree where his family owned a gas service-station. The 250 tickets were sold at a local pharmacy.
The film is dedicated to Baz Luhrmann's father, Leonard Luhrmann, who died just as filming was about to begin. Before he passed away, he told his son to focus on the film. When Luhrmann thought about giving up during its hectic production, he remembered his father's words.
We look forward to welcoming you back to another of our events very soon but why not check out our website or sign up to our monthly mailing list to find out about new events first:
Au revoir, Tony and the Wine Events Co Crew
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