Three romantic epics directed by Baz Luhrmann.
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (1996), Shakespeare’s play is transferred to the futuristic urban backdrop of Verona Beach, California. The Montague and Capulet families are embroiled in a long-running feud. When Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio), a Montague, attends a Capulet ball in disguise, he falls in love with the beautiful Juliet (Claire Danes). Although already engaged to Dave Paris, whom she does not love, Juliet vows to marry Romeo. They ask the kindly Father Laurence to perform the ceremony in secret, but bloodshed and tragedy threaten the couple’s future together.
In ‘Moulin Rouge’ (2001), Christian (Ewan McGregor) is an aspiring bohemian writer, eking out a living in late 19th century Paris. An unlikely series of events result in him impersonating a Duke at the Moulin Rouge, Paris’ most decadent club, and he falls tragically in love with its biggest star, Satine (Nicole Kidman). Events conspire against the young couple as the film speeds energetically towards its fateful conclusion.
Finally, in ‘Australia’ (2008), Kidman stars as Lady Sarah Ashley, an English aristocrat who inherits a vast cattle ranch in the unforgiving Australian outback. When her land comes under threat from a takeover plot by English cattle barons, Sarah reluctantly teams up with a rough-edged drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive her 2,000 head of cattle hundreds of miles over some of the world’s most desolate landscape. The pair then arrive in Darwin just in time to face the Japanese bombings that come only months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
