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).
Moulin Rouge! (Reprise)"). The storyline of "Moulin Rouge" can be traced back to Alexandre Dumas, "fils"' "The Lady of the Camellias", although Luhrmann, as an opera director, was probably more directly influenced by Verdi's adaptation, "La traviata". When asked about his inspiration for "Moulin Rouge!", Luhrmann remarked: Luhrmann revealed that he drew from the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice in the DVD's audio commentary. The legend of Orpheus says he was a musical genius, far surpassing anyone in his world; the filmmakers chose to replicate this by using songs from the mid-to-late 20th century, many decades after the film's 1899 setting.