Moulin Rouge! musical nominated for Best Picture in 10 years, following Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). In BBC's 2016 poll of the greatest films since 2000, "Moulin Rouge!" ranked 53rd. In the year 1900, a British writer named Christian (Ewan McGregor), suffering from depression, begins writing on his typewriter ("Nature Boy"). As Christian narrates, the film flashes back to one year earlier upon Christian's move to the Montmartre district of Paris to become a writer among members of the area's Bohemian movement. He soon discovers that his neighbours are a loose troupe of performers led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo).
The Boy with a Thorn in His Side make the film, spending the first half of the year seeking funding for a feature before learning about the government-funded 'Media Vault' program that would allow West Midlands filmmakers access to filming equipment, but for only 17 days. The first draft of the film had been written in 2001. After arranging for the use of the equipment for a period three months later, he re-rote the draft to create it as a project that could be shot within his time constraints and began his pre-production and casting. The film premiered 18 May 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival, and later