In the film, “Moulin Rouge,” directed by Baz Luhrmann, a character that changes significantly is Satine. Satine is a beautiful courtesan, and the star of the Moulin Rouge. At first, all she cares about is money and diamonds.
Throughout the film, Christian, a penniless writer, teaches her how important it is to love. Luhrmann shows these changes using a variety of visual and oral features. These being colour, lighting, costume and speech and song.
At the start of the film, Satine is all about money and diamonds. This is made obvious in her first appearance. We see her spiral down from the roof, all eyes are on her. She is in an elegant, sparkly dress, that looks far superior to all the others near her. Satine is also wearing a lot of makeup, and has her hair done beautifully. Luhrmann uses Satine’s costume and appearance, to give us the idea of her being all about the money.
This idea is backed up when she sings, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and, “Material Girl.” Baz Luhrmann uses these specific songs, because they include the lyrics, “The French are glad to die for love they delight in fighting duals, but I prefer a man who lives and gives expensive jewels.” This one excerpt from the song shows us that Satine’s only need is a man who’s rich, and will provide her with whatever she wants, not because of love.
Another example of this is when Satine sings, “Cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.” These lyrics emphasise that she is caught up in the fake world around her, and all the materialistic things that she is provided with. During their first meeting, the Duke says, “A kiss on the hand may be quite continental.” Satine waves her finger and replies, “But diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” This further expresses the idea that she prefers diamonds over any kind of love. Satine’s outlook on love and money are made very clear in the first scenes of this movie.
Throughout th…
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