Baz Luhrmann

While "Australia" seems to be on almost everybody's mind, I couldn't help but become interested in the director Baz Luhrmann.  Luhrmann reminds me on a young Peter Weir; his films are experimental but they also resonate with major audiences.  Luhrmann is know primarily for "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge!", and now he is garnering praise and attention for his upcoming film "Australia".

Baz Luhrmann was originally born Marc Anthony Luhrmann in 1962.  He was born and raised in Southern New Wales, Australia, and graduated from St. Augustine's College in Sydney.  His wife, Catherine Martin, is the production designer on all of his films. (for more biographical information check out Wikipedia Baz Luhrmann)

The fact that his wife is his primary production designer interested me, especially because when I think about "Moulin Rouge!" or "Romeo + Juliet" I can't help but think about their production design.  From the elephant in "Moulin Rouge!" to the church in "Romeo + Juliet", the set strikes a chord.  There is a certain fantasy aspect to their design, which help the viewers further immerse themselves into the world that Luhrmann creates, but at the same time these sets are grounded in reality.  The marriage (literal and artistic) between Baz and Catherine seems to be an equal blending of ideas, which transforms the stories and the film into something completely different than most Hollywood films.

Luhrmann originally worked in theater, and he directed the original stage version of "Strictly Ballroom".  Then, in 1992 Luhrmann released his first feature film, smartly titled, "Strictly Ballroom".  It is a romantic comedy (according to Wikipedia Strictly Ballroom) and while the theatrical production was short, it transfers well into a feature length film.  I happened to see this film years ago, in my freshman or sophomore year of high school, and what is really interesting is that I don't remember the plot, as much as I remember the clothes.  The costume design was very interesting because there was a lot of room for imagination in ballroom costumes.  As you can see from the poster (above) the saturated colors are very reminiscent of the Baz Luhrmann from "Moulin Rouge!" which was made almost ten years later. "Strictly Ballroom" is the first of the three 'red curtain' trilogy films, including "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge".  These are the first three films of Baz, and they are all very similar in production.

On a complete side note, Luhrmann is also credited with the single Everybodys Free (To Wear Suncreen) which was a #1 single in the UK. The original video is posted on YouTube.com .  This is an interesting song, the narrator talks his way through it, while there is music playing in the background.  It starts off with images like those in "An Inconvenient Truth" and then adds in old photographs and videos.  I would recommend watching  a minute or so, its very interesting, and good for a laugh.