Baz Luhrmann
The musical performances in Elvis will obviously be a major draw but the stellar performances make it all the more intoxicating.
Warm up your pipes and put on your dancing shoes, because this month’s staff inquiry…
Baz Luhrmann is a divisive director. His unique blend of pop culture references coupled with highly choreographed, hyperbolic sequences can, for some, prove distracting. Certainly, these criticisms are understandable, if not valid.
There’s a warm feeling that engulfs you when viewing an old Hollywood musical. Usually, it’s a wave of nostalgia as soon as the opening credits start to roll. When silver screen icons like Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Ginger Rogers or Fred Astaire show up on your screen to entertain the masses for a few hours, you’re guaranteed an entertaining, yet competent, movie experience.
Baz Luhrmann, born Mark Anthony Luhrmann, grew up in the tiny village of Heron’s Creek in New South Wales, Australia, a township which boasted a population of just 312 in 2011. Since then, he has revolutionised the Australian cinema scene and is best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, comprising of romantic comedy and underdog tale Strictly Ballroom, a modernisation of Shakespearean classic Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge!, the extravagant and no holds barred musical set in late 19th century Paris.