Okay, so I really dug the movie Moulin Rouge (the one from this last summer, not one of the other 27 movies with Moulin Rouge in the title that you can find on the IMDB). Despite some problems on an intellectual level, it was just a fun, fun movie. And a fun soundtrack.
But… the soundtrack could’ve been more fun if you ask me. The mix of songs sung by characters in the movie (diegetic songs for you film students) with songs by rock bands that just served as background for a scene (non-diegetic) was kind of jarring. Plus the soundtrack seemed to be missing a lot of songs. Is that because Baz Luhrmann (director) is plannign on releasing a Volume Two soundtrack like he did with Romeo + Juliet?
Anyway, I would have made it two soundtracks all along; one would be of Mya, Pink, Christina, Lil Kim, Bono, David Bowie, et al. The other would have been nothing but songs from the characters and so forth.
Either way, we’re still mising some of the songs from the movie. The ones I can think of (I only saw the movie once)are:
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Nature Boy - John Leguizamo
Like A Virgin - Jim Broadbent and other cast members
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Medley) - Moulin Rouge Performers and Patrons
Your Song (reprise at the end) - Ewan & Nicole
Your Song (techno version from their website) - Ewan
The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music - Ewan
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Is anyone in the know as to whether another volume of the soundtrack will come out? How long after the first volume did the second volume of Romeo + Juliet’s soundtrack come out? What about volume two of Trainspotting? Can anyone think of more songs in the movie Moulin Rouge, but not on the soundtrack?
The “Spectacular Spectacular” number that Satine, Christian, Harry, Toulouse and others sing to convince the Duke to fund the show is not on the soundtrack. The brief song of the Green Fairy is also missing.
I’m split on this issue. When I first saw the soundtrack, I really lamented the lack of the songs, particularly “Teen Spirit” (for lack of anything else to call it"), “Like A Virgin” and “Show Must Go On.” And I HATED most of the stuff they replaced it with.
Now that time has passed and a listen to the soundtrack and some of the other tracks that didn’t make the CD, I can understand why they made the decisions they did.
“Lady Marmalade,” as atrocious a video as it was, boosted the film’s profile and probably (aaarughhhh) made the soundtrack a hit. Same with some of the other big-stars.
“Like A Virgin,” now that I’ve heard it a few times, doesn’t come off as well on CD. You really need the visuals to appreciate its true lunacy.
“The Show Must Go On” in the movie is dramatic but not very long, only about 1:30. It is longer when you include Satine’s song at the beginning, and even then, it comes off on CD as a nice moment from the movie and not a complete song. Still, they should have found room for it. I understand you can put a lot on a CD.
And I particularly like some of the tracks they added: Bono’s “Children of the Revolution” and “Compliante De La Butte” by Rufus Wainwright. However, Fatboy Slim’s contribution is an annoying piece of ever-buzzing dreck. Just because you can-can FS, doesn’t mean you should-should.
Hey, now that I look at it, the Moulin Rouge soundtrack only clocks in at 57:01. Looks like they could’ve had another 17 more minutes of music on it had they wanted to.