Moulin Rouge

Ewald Dupont's final silent effort is one of his best combining firmly controlled direction and editing, highly stylized and innovative camerawork by Werner Brandes, along with a magnificent performance by the female lead, the great German actress Olga Tschechowa. Filmed in part at the Lido De Paris during an international review, the film is valuable to any who are deeply interested in social and cultural history as the Parisian scenes are fascinating and blend seamlessly with the scenario, which relates of a young French nobleman's erotic fascination for an actress, the mother of his betrothed. Although the plot is essentially melodrama, we are never far from the perception of reality, as Dupont does not permit whim to his actors, with the result that each glance and movement, if edited away, would reduce the effect of the story's progression. Cinematographer Brandes makes correct use of the Stanislavsky trained Tschechowa's striking features, since she is the linchpin of the film's considerable energy, although even the small roles in MOULIN ROUGE are handled in more than creditable fashion.