BEHIND THE RED CURTAIN - COLLECTOR'S DISC [CODE 4]

The bulk of the bonus disc, which carries the predictable moniker Behind the Red Curtain, is the segment entitled Red Curtain Cinema, a 20-minute interview with the director in which he talks about the history of the form. Frequently throughout the piece, a title will flash up onscreen offering you the opportunity to link to a related segment. Frequently these branches will themselves contain a second layer of branching. If you choose to watch all of the material, the program will run over two hours. Part of me likes this interactive experience (nearly all of the footage is excellent—insightful and well worth watching), part of me wishes it was presented in a more linear format. But then, I suppose interaction is the hallmark of a Baz Luhrmann production.

Luhrmann starts things off by outlining the "rules" of a Red Curtain film (have fun listening, because they are repeated at least three times over the course of the program). He then starts into the history leading up to Strictly Ballroom, bringing us to our first branching segment, featuring footage of Luhrmann as a child, competing in ballroom competitions. Another level of branching during this segment goes to a photo gallery of Luhrmann and various dancing partners. Back to the main program; Luhrmann talks more about Ballroom's start as a theatre workshop when he was at university (more branching here, to clips of the play being performed, with further branching to rehearsal footage).

Luhrmann then begins to talk about his artistic influences and his working relationships with the Bazmark team (this section offers links to footage of his production of La Bohéme on stage, which was the first project to pair him with production designer Catherine Martin, whom he later married). Further branching options will whisk you away to a segment on Bazmark choreographer John O'Connell and to the original stage version of the Ballroom script.

Baz then discusses the adaptation of the stage play into a musical, with branching opportunities to read several different drafts of the screenplay, along with comments from co-writer Craig Pierce. Several more branching segments in this section offer a look at a six-minute "making-of" from Australian TV (throughout which Catherine Martin is wearing goofy Harry Potter-style glasses) and a short interview with editor Jill Bilcock. Bilcock's segment offers a second layer of branching to footage of the Cannes premiere of Ballroom and the subsequent critical accolades (links are also provided to two reviews—one positive, one negative).

The next section begins the discussion of Romeo+Juliet. The genesis of the project came when Baz went to India to research a production of the opera based on A Midsummer Night's Dream (a branch offers footage of the director in India, where he says he underwent a spiritual change). There he discovered the stylized films of Bollywood—this segment offers branching to a great clip of the song Chamma Chamma from an Indian film; it was later used in Moulin Rouge (here you can link to Baz's brief interview with the song's composer).

After finding inspiration in India, Luhrmann returned to Australia to produce the opera for the stage (this segment links to footage of a performance and a six-minute featurette on its production), which further inspired him to go on to film Romeo+Juliet in a similarly heightened style.

Next, the director talks about his influences (link to a segment on his local theater) and moves on to discuss influences on R+J, including the conceit that Verona Beach would be played as modern day Miami (links to footage of scriptwriting and on-location in Miami, with a second link to clips of Leonardo DiCaprio) and the Sergio Leone-stylings of the gas station shootout (yet another link, this time to said scene). Finally, Baz talks about response to the film, with links to footage of the BAFTA Awards and yet more links to positive and negative reviews.

This takes us to the discussion of Moulin Rouge (with links to Around the World, featuring footage of the Cannes premiere and links to two reviews). Baz discusses the difficulties of such a massive production (branching offers an option to watch an excellent 27-minute interview with Luhrmann, filmed for BAFTA/LA, where he discusses casting, picking the music, and simply making it through the stress without going insane—this segment features a branch to a Vogue photo shoot with Kidman) and the mythic nature of the story (another pair of links, this time to a 17-minute interview with co-writer Craig Pierce and to the program from a presentation of the many films that have influenced the Red Curtain style). Baz finishes his discussion of Moulin Rouge by talking about the editing (with a link to an interview with Bilcock) and production design (linkage to a discussion with Catherine Martin).

Finally, Baz closes the curtain on the program, discussing the completion of Moulin Rouge as the end of a significant period in his life—the completion of a trilogy.

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Original Code 4 DVD. NOT PIRATED OR SELF-BURNT COPIES. As shown in the scanned pictures above. DVD is in excellent condition - 9.5/10.

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