Moulin Rouge! burst onto the screens in a frenzy of glittering mayhem and musical mischief 25 years agoredefining how we saw cinema and what it could be.
By the time the last notes of the golden age of the musical film sounded in the 1960s, audiences had largely fallen in love with watching actors sing their feelings to each other on screen.
But then Baz Luhrmann changed everything in the new century with his loud, melodramatic and beautiful tale of a courtesan who falls in love with a penniless poet, believing him to be a duke. Their doomed romance plays out under the red mill sails of the titular cabaret club in Paris.
The film opened Cannes Film Festival in May 2001, it became a word-of-mouth sensation, earning eight Oscar nominations and built a legacy which still ranks it as one of the best films made in recent decades, of any genre.
At Luhrmann’s side for this dangerous game was composer Craig Armstrong, who remains one of the most versatile British musicians working today.
While his name may not trigger instant recognition, his glorious music certainly will… because his gift is his song.
He has received a Grammy, two Baftasan Ivor Novello and a Golden Globe while writing the kind of music that has moved people’s lives, whether from his partnership with Luhrmann, or his scores for movies like Love Actually.Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Plunkett & Macleane (google track Escape – you’ll know).
He has collaborated with Luhrmann four times, starting with 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, which will also mark its 30th anniversary in November.
But it was Moulin Rouge! that redefined and repopulated the film musical. Despite the success the pair had already enjoyed together in Romeo + Juliet, making Shakespeare rock ‘n’ roll again with a modern Venice Beach setting and young stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, it was still a potentially career-destroying project.
“I remember when Baz asked me to do it, he said, ‘If this works, it’ll be great.’ And if it doesn’t work, we’ll never work again!” Armstrong says. subway with a smile during the Sands Film Festival in April, where he later appears for the event in conversation.
But he was all in with Luhrmann for this unconventional, wildly ambitious film with its genre-defying soundtrack, which eventually became a bestseller in its own right. Kylie Minogue played the absinthe-inspired Green Fairy in the film, Pink and Christina Aguilera collaborated on a star-studded cover of Labelle’s 1974 album Lady Marmalade, and The Police’s Roxanne became a sensual tango because – why not? There seemed to be no rules.
Armstrong not only composed the music, but was also involved in these daring arrangements of new songs, including David Bowie’s version of Nature Boy, Elton JohnIt’s your song, like passionately bound BY Ewan McGregor as Christian, and the famous Elephant Love Medley, an eclectic mash-up duet between him and Nicole Kidman as Satine, with whom the fans soon became perfect words.
“The set was amazing,” Armstrong recalls. “It was very scary because later Ewan was working Star Wars so you’re going out – we filmed Moulin Rouge! over a long period and my family came out for a bit – and my kids were quite excited to see him fight with the lightsaber!
“It was also a bit surreal because Sydney is so hot, so we’d be walking in this blinding heat to the Moulin Rouge.”
Moulin Rouge! it was a little surreal
With Luhrmann, Armstrong finds he has “a whole language of pictures” ready to show him when they start discussing music for a project, thanks to the director’s close collaboration with his Oscar-winning wife, Catherine Martin, who provides costume and production design for Luhrmann.
Armstrong gets involved early, writing music “just from the script” on their most recent project together, 2013’s The Great Gatsby, before soaking up the atmosphere during production.
Baz loves being on set, so then you see all the actors rehearse the same scene 50 times, and it puts you into the world. It’s a bit like one of the actors.’
But with Luhrmann, Armstrong also has the pleasure of not worrying about the world of period sound as he usually would, seeing that the Australian director ‘willfully ignores’ it when bringing his vivid and anachronistic films to life.
In this case, it seems as if Romeo + Juliet went with the use of Radiohead and The Cardigans so that Moulin Rouge! he could, not just run, but fly.
But Armstrong has written everything from classical to pop to trip-hop – he doesn’t like to be pigeonholed by genre, nor to be identified as anything other than a musician – and has also worked with Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys and U2.
I don’t see myself as a film composer, more as a musician
“I think it’s a very British thing: if you make a film that does well, you’re a film composer. If you make a song that sells first, you’re a songwriter. If you write a classical piece that does well, you’re a classical composer,” the 67-year-old Glaswegian points out.
“I don’t see myself as a film composer, more of a musician. I just try to bring myself to all different mediums.’
Sometimes directors leave him completely alone to compose for their films, but Luhrmann, surprisingly, is not one of them.
Armstrong also laughs at the fact that, while all of his working relationships with directors are very different, the thing that connects them all is that they always ask Armstrong how others film directors work with him.
While Luhrmann has been busy with Elvis Presley in recent years, following his 2022 musical biopic starring Austin Butler with this year’s documentary EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, his next film is the historical epic Joan of Arc, starring English teenager Isla Johnston as the patron saint of fifteenth-century France.
Armstrong won’t comment on whether or not he’s involved — but he would love to work with Luhrmann again.
“Besides he’s a really nice guy – he’s a beautiful man – he’s a great artist. But I’ve never asked to work with him on anything. I’ve never called him saying, ‘Can I work on your new movie?'” So if he wants me, he’ll call me, but I’m busy doing my own thing too, and it’s great for a director to choose whoever he wants.
I would love to work with Baz again. I’m sure we’ll do something
“But I would love to work (with Baz). I’m sure we’ll work on something again. I don’t know if it’ll be this movie or something else.”
Armstrong is soft-spoken and rarely gives interviews, but he is aware that his music has had an impact on fans, particularly certain compositions such as Romeo + Juliet’s Balcony Scene – which mixes with Des’ree’s ‘I’m Kissing You’ and PM’s Love Theme in Love Actually, a film he is proud of for many. This is the heartwarming musical in which Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s Sam sprints through the airport to declare his feelings for classmate Joanna (Olivia Olson).
But his favorite part of the process is the blank page, ‘when I don’t know what I’m going to do.’
He is currently working on an album of orchestral songs to which both Sir Elton and Elbow’s Guy Garvey have contributed, while his music also includes scores for other films such as Ray (for which he won a Grammy), as well as Far from Madding Crowd and World Trade Center (whose directors, Thomas Vinterberg and Oliver Stone, are two of Oliver Stone’s favorite partners).
He’s done a lot that is beloved and familiar — even if it sometimes surprises him, like when he heard a song he made for Massive Attack’s label playing at the airport in Hong Kong during a layover, and then again at the restaurant where he met Luhrmann after landing in Australia.
‘I thought, at least your music is going around the world! Good for your PRS!’
But his one unrealized ambition is to write a musical, and one for all ages to enjoy.
“A bit like Baz, I love when someone can get into a movie. I love The Wizard of Oz, so I’d love to do something like that.’
And if he made it with Moulin Rouge! for movies, then his success with a stage musical surely seems inevitable.
Craig Armstrong appeared in 2026 Sands International Film Festivalwhich took place from April 17-19 in St Andrews, Scotland. It will return in 2027.
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