The evolution of a director’s style: Baz Luhrmann
Instructions : Select one of the essay topics below. Your essay should be approximately 800
words in length and should contain detailed analysis of the evolution of Baz Luhrmann’s
cinematic techniques and philosophy of cinema. Luhrmann’s development as a director
must be traced with close references to and detailed analysis of specific scenes from
Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby.
Topic 1. Luhrmann’s cinematic language is used “... to signal to the audience that they’re
entering into a contract with the storytelling. The audience is aware that they are
participating in this motion picture...this is not about naturalism.”
From a discussion of the three Luhrmann films that you have studied, show the evolution of
Luhrmann’s directorial style through his cinematic language, his storytelling techniques and
his belief in a ‘theatrical cinema”. (40)
Hannah Moore
Topic 1 – Film Task 2
Throughout Baz Luhrmann’s films, the audience is constantly reminded through the
utilisation of Luhrmann’s directing styles and techniques that what they are observing is
fictional and a highly constructed form of realism. Through the exploration of the films,
Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, it is apparent that Luhrmann’s
directing style matures and develops through the employment of crucial elements of
postmodern film which shape Luhrmann’s work and which he manipulates to produce his
aesthetic of ‘theatricalised’ cinema with an actively engaged audience. Baz Luhrmann’s
development as a director is illustrated through the non- naturalistic aspects of his films,
through an analysis of his post- modernism techniques of self-reflexivity, intertextuality,
appropriation, pastiche, hyperbolic hyperbole and fragmentation, along with his use of
cinematic techniques such as the utilisation of the soundtracks, colour and lighting, camera
angles or shots and costumes. Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge are part of the Red Curtain
Trilogy, a series of works that exemplify “heightened artifice”. The Great Gatsby is the most
naturalistic and comparatively realistic of the three films, as Luhrmann’s techniques are much
more subtle and refined.
Luhrmann makes use of the post-modernism technique of self-reflexivity, to make the
audience aware of the non- naturalism visible throughout all three films. Romeo+Juliet calls
attention to itself as a piece of theatre through the use of self-reflexivity . This is
demonstrated in the opening sequence of the prologue sonnet, as the audience is made aware
that they are part of an artificial world. Similarly, in Moulin Rouge, the use of self-
reflexivity, specifically metafiction, is evidenced as Christian narrates the story, reminding
the audience of the film-making process. Additionally, in The Great Gatsby, the characters
are introduced to the audience through written text, reinforcing the metafictional nature of
Luhrmann’s film. However, self- reflexivity is not as evident in The Great Gatsby as in
Romeo +Juliet or Moulin Rouge as Luhrmann pays homage to Fitzgerald’s text.
Instructions : Select one of the essay topics below. Your essay should be approximately 800
words in length and should contain detailed analysis of the evolution of Baz Luhrmann’s
cinematic techniques and philosophy of cinema. Luhrmann’s development as a director
must be traced with close references to and detailed analysis of specific scenes from
Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby.
Topic 1. Luhrmann’s cinematic language is used “... to signal to the audience that they’re
entering into a contract with the storytelling. The audience is aware that they are
participating in this motion picture...this is not about naturalism.”
From a discussion of the three Luhrmann films that you have studied, show the evolution of
Luhrmann’s directorial style through his cinematic language, his storytelling techniques and
his belief in a ‘theatrical cinema”. (40)
Hannah Moore
Topic 1 – Film Task 2
Throughout Baz Luhrmann’s films, the audience is constantly reminded through the
utilisation of Luhrmann’s directing styles and techniques that what they are observing is
fictional and a highly constructed form of realism. Through the exploration of the films,
Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, it is apparent that Luhrmann’s
directing style matures and develops through the employment of crucial elements of
postmodern film which shape Luhrmann’s work and which he manipulates to produce his
aesthetic of ‘theatricalised’ cinema with an actively engaged audience. Baz Luhrmann’s
development as a director is illustrated through the non- naturalistic aspects of his films,
through an analysis of his post- modernism techniques of self-reflexivity, intertextuality,
appropriation, pastiche, hyperbolic hyperbole and fragmentation, along with his use of
cinematic techniques such as the utilisation of the soundtracks, colour and lighting, camera
angles or shots and costumes. Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge are part of the Red Curtain
Trilogy, a series of works that exemplify “heightened artifice”. The Great Gatsby is the most
naturalistic and comparatively realistic of the three films, as Luhrmann’s techniques are much
more subtle and refined.
Luhrmann makes use of the post-modernism technique of self-reflexivity, to make the
audience aware of the non- naturalism visible throughout all three films. Romeo+Juliet calls
attention to itself as a piece of theatre through the use of self-reflexivity . This is
demonstrated in the opening sequence of the prologue sonnet, as the audience is made aware
that they are part of an artificial world. Similarly, in Moulin Rouge, the use of self-
reflexivity, specifically metafiction, is evidenced as Christian narrates the story, reminding
the audience of the film-making process. Additionally, in The Great Gatsby, the characters
are introduced to the audience through written text, reinforcing the metafictional nature of
Luhrmann’s film. However, self- reflexivity is not as evident in The Great Gatsby as in
Romeo +Juliet or Moulin Rouge as Luhrmann pays homage to Fitzgerald’s text.
