Moulin Rouge! Quotations

Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 film set in turn of the century Paris in the Bohemian yet derelict district of Montmartre. Centered on the Bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom, and love, Moulin Rouge! follows the story of two lovers, Christian and Satine, who above all, believe in preserving their secret love in the midst of an environment hostile to such an affair.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Written by Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann.

No laws. No limits. One rule. Never fall in love.taglines

Christian

The Moulin Rouge. A night club, a dance hall, and a bordello. Ruled over by Harold Zidler. A kingdom of night time pleasures, where the rich and powerful came to play with the young and beautiful creatures of the underworld. The most beautiful of all these was the woman I loved. Satine. A courtesan, she sold her love to men. They called her the 'Sparkling Diamond', and she was the star of the Moulin Rouge. The woman I loved is…dead.

This woman is yours now. I've paid my whore. I owe you nothing. And you are nothing to me. [crying slightly] Thank you for c-curing me of my r-ridiculous obsession with love!

Can't fall in love? But a life without love, that-that-that's terrible!

Above all things I believe in love. Love is like oxygen- love is a many splendored thing- love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is love!

I had come to write about truth, beauty, freedom, and that which I believed in above all things: love. There was only one problem. I'd never been in love!

Luckily, right at that moment an unconscious Argentinean fell through my roof.

[singing] Come what may... come what may. I will love you, until my dying day!

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside, I'm not one of those who can easily hide what I'm feeling.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The End.

Satine

Please tell me you're not one of Toulouse's oh-so-talented, charmingly bohemian, tragically impoverished protégés!

I don't need you anymore! All my life you made believe I was only worth what someone would pay for me! But Christian loves me! He loves me, Harold. He loves me and that is worth everything! We're going away from you, away from the Duke, away from the Moulin Rouge! Good-bye Harold.

Tell our story, Christian. Promise me. Yes. That way I'll... I'll always be with you.

[Before kissing Christian] You're going to be bad for business, I can tell.

The difference between you and I is that you can leave anytime you choose. But this is my home. The Moulin Rouge is my home.

Christian, I'm a courtesan. I'm paid to make men believe what they want to believe.

I couldn't. I saw you there and I felt differently and the Duke he saw... Christian I love you. I don't want to pretend anymore. I didn't want to lie and he knows, he knows.

Duke! Don’t you toy with my emotions! [fake sobs] You must know the effect you have on women.

[singing] If I should die... this very moment.. I wouldn't fear. I've never known completeness like being here, wrapped in the warmth of you, loving every breath of you...

Harold Zidler

Everything's going so well!

The Duke holds the deeds to the Moulin Rouge. He's spending a fortune on you. He's giving you a beautiful new dressing room. He wants to make you a star, and you are dallying with the writer!

The show must go on.

She says it feels so good when you hold her, and touch her; it makes her feel like a ... virgin.

We're creatures of the underworld. We can't afford to love.

Hurt him. Hurt him to save him.

A magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan bedazzlement, a sensual ravishment. It will be: Spectacular Spectacular.

My little sparrow is dying.

The Duke

Why would the courtesan choose the penniless sitar player over the maharajah, who is offering a lifetime of security? That's real love. Once the sitar player has satisfied his lust, he will leave the courtesan with nothing.

I forgot my hat. [seeing Satine passed out with Christian on the bed] Foul play?!

You expect me to believe that scantily clad, in the arms of another man, in the middle of the night, inside an elephant you were rehearsing?

I don't care about your ridiculous dogma!

It's not that I'm a jealous man, I just don't like other people touching my things!

She is mine.

And in the end should someone die?

Generally I like it.

You made me believe that you loved me.

It's the boy, he has bewitched with her the words. Tell her that the show will end my way and she will come to me when the curtain falls...or I'll have the boy killed.

Look, my dear! A little frog!

Let Zidler keep his fairy tale ending.

It's a little bit funny—this feeling inside.

I don't like this ending.

Toulouse-Lautrec

How do you do? My name is Henri Marie Raymond Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

Killed. Killed? Killed! I must warn him!

Clean yourself off you bourgeois pig! [snorts]

He's got a huge talent! [looking at Satine and Christian through the window]

The Narcoleptic Argentinean

The hills are alive with the sound of music! I love it!

Aw! The boy has talent! I like him. [touches Christian's crotch] Nothing funny [takes hand off, and laughs nervously], I just like talent.

Never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always ends BAD!

We have a dance in the brothels of Buenos Aires. It tells the story of a prostitute and a man who falls in love with her. First, there is desire. Then passion...! Then, suspicion. Jealousy! Anger! Betrayal! When love is for the highest bidder, there can be no trust. Without trust, there is no love. Jealousy! Yes, jealousy...will drive you, mad!!!

All right! No problems! Go back to work!

The hills are incarnate with symphonic melodies! [falls back asleep]

[to a dancer] You are a beautiful woman. [whispers] I love sex.

Other

The Bohemians: Stand your ground for freedom, beauty, truth & love.

Nini: This ending's silly. Why would the courtesan fall for the penniless writer- [spitefully] Oops! I meant sitar player!

Dialogue

Satine: What's his type? Wilting flower? [sighs] Bright and bubbly? [giggles] Or smoldering temptress? [growls]

Zidler: I'd say, smoldering temptress.

[As Satine is being carried to her dressing room, having passed out.]

Nini: Looks like the Duke won't be getting his money's worth tonight.

Dancer: Don't be unkind, Nini!

[They both giggle]

Zidler: SHE'S CONFESSING!

The Duke: Confessing?! What kind of imbecile do you take me for, Zidler?!

Zidler: She suddenly had a terrible desire...to go to a priest and...confess her sins.

The Duke: I don't like this ending...

Zidler: Don't like the ending, my dear Duke?

The Duke: Why should the courtesan chose the penniless sitar player over the maharajah who is offering her a lifetime of security? That's real love. Once the sitar player has satisfied his lust he will leave her with nothing. I suggest that the courtesan chose the maharajah.

Toulouse-Lautrec: But, but tell me, that ending does not uphold the Bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom, and...

The Duke: [shouts] I don't care about your ridiculous dogma! Why shouldn't the courtesan chose the maharajah?

Christian: [shouts] Because she doesn't love you!... Him... Hi-him, she doesn't love... she doesn't love him.

The Duke: Oh, I see... Monsieur Zidler, the play will be rewritten with the courtesan choosing the maharajah and without the lovers' secret song. It will be rehearsed in the morning, ready for the opening tomorrow night...

Zidler: But, my dear Duke, that will be quite impossible.

Satine: Harold, the Duke is being treated appallingly. These silly writers let their imaginations run away with themselves. Why don't you and I have a little supper, and then we can tell Monsieur Zidler how we would like the story to end.

Nini: [to Christian] Don't worry, Shakespeare. You'll get your ending, once the Duke gets his end-in!

Zidler: I AM THE EVIL MAHA RAJA! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!

Satine: Oh Harold, no one could play him like you could!

Zidler: No one's going to.

Zidler: The Duke holds the deeds to the Moulin Rouge, he's spending a fortune on you, he's giving you a beautiful new dressing room, he wants to make you a star, and YOU'RE DALLYING WITH THE WRITER!

Satine: Harold, that's ridic...

Zidler: I SAW YOU TOGETHER.

Satine: It's nothing. It's just an infatuation... it's nothing.

Zidler: The infatuation will end. Go to the boy; tell him it's over, and the Duke is expecting you in the tower at eight.

Toulouse-Lautrec: Things aren’t always the way they seem.

Christian: Things are exactly the way they seem.

Toulouse-Lautrec: Christian, you may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know what love is, only because I long for it with every fiber of my being. She loves you, I know it, I know she loves you.

Christian: Go away, Toulouse. Leave me alone. [Toulouse-Lautrec cringes but does not leave] Go. Away. [Toulouse-Lautrec still looks at Christian] GO AWAY!!!!!!!! [wordlessly, Toulouse-Lautrec leaves]

Christian: [narrating] I wanted to shut out what Toulouse had said, but he had filled me with doubt and there was only one way to be sure. I had to know. So I returned to the Moulin Rouge one last time. [Christian enters the Moulin Rouge and the show begins]

Zidler: SHEEEEEEEEEEE'S MINE!

Songs

In the order sung in the movie:

Nature Boy

Toulouse-Lautrec: There was a boy

A very strange enchanted boy

They say he wandered very far

Very far

Over land and sea

A little shy

And sad of eye

But very wise, was he

And then one day

One magic day he, passed my way

and while we spoke of many things, fools and kings, this he said to me . . .

The greatest thing, you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved . . . in return

Sparkling Diamonds

Satine: The French are glad to die for love.

They delight in fighting duels

But I prefer a man who lives

And gives expensive . . .

Jewels.

A kiss on the hand may be quite continental

But diamonds are a girl’s best friend

A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat

Or help you feed your (purrs) pussycat

Men grow cold as girls grow old

And we all lose our charms in the end

But square-cut or pear shaped these rocks don't lose their shape

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Tiffany's!

Cartier!

'Cause we are living in a material world

And I am a material girl (Blows kiss)

Come and get me boys (Whoops)

Black star, roscore

Talk to me Harry Zildler, tell me all about it!

There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer

But diamonds are a girl's best friend

There may come a time when a hard-boiled employer think you're-

Zidler: Awfully nice.

Satine: Ah! But get that ice or else no dice

Girls of the Moulin Rouge: He's your guy when, stocks are high

But beware when they start to descend

Diamonds are a girl's best,

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Nini: Ole!

(instrumental)

Satine: 'Cause that's what those louses go back to their spouses

Diamonds . . .

Are a . . .

Girl's . . .

Best . . .

Friend

One Day I'll Fly Away

Satine: I follow the night

Can't stand the light

When will I begin

To live again

One day I'll fly away

Leave all this to yesterday

What more could your love do for me

When will love be through with me

Why live life from dream to dream

And dread the day when dreaming ends

Christian: How wonderful life is, now you're in the world

Satine: One day I'll fly away

Leave all this to yesterday

Why live life from dream to dream

And dread the day

When dreaming ends

One day I'll fly away...

Fly...fly...away

Elephant Love Medley

Christian (spoken): Love is like oxygen.

Satine (spoken): What?

Christian (spoken): Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is love.

Satine (spoken): Please don't start that again.

Christian: All you need is love.

Satine (spoken): A girl has got to eat –

Christian: All you need is love.

Satine (spoken): She'll end up on the street!

Christian: All you need is love.

Satine (spoken): Love is just a game.

Music begins

Christian: I was made for loving you, baby, you were made for loving me.

Satine: The only way of loving me, baby, is to pay a lovely fee.

Christian: Just one night, give me just one night.

Satine: There's no way, 'cause you can't pay.

Christian: In the name of love, one night in the name of love.

Satine: You crazy fool, I won't give in to you.

Christian: Don't…leave me this way. I can't survive, without your sweet love, oh baby…don't leave me this way.

Satine: You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.

Christian: I look around me and I see, it isn't so. Oh, no.

Satine: Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs.

Christian: Well, what's wrong with that? ... I'd like to know ... 'cause here I go again! ...Love lifts us up where we belong-

Satine (spoken): Get down! Get down!

Christian: Where eagles fly, on a mountain high!

Satine: Love makes us act like we are fools. Throw our lives away, for one happy day.

Christian: We could be heroes ... Just for one day.

Satine: You, you will be mean.

Christian: No, I won't!

Satine: And I... I'll drink all the time.

Christian: We should be lovers.

Satine: We can't do that.

Christian: We should be lovers, and that's a fact.

Satine: Though nothing will keep us together

Christian: We could steal time-

Christian and Satine: Just for one day ... We could be heroes, forever and ever! ... We could be heroes, forever and ever! ... We can be heroes!

Christian: Just because I ... will always love you.

Satine: I

Christian and Satine: Can't help loving –

Christian: You.

Satine: How wonderful life is now

Christian and Satine: You're in the world.

Satine (spoken): You're going to be bad for business, I can tell.

Christian and Satine kiss

Operatic outro (The singing moon): Evviva la forza dell'amor.

Come What May

Christian: Never knew I could feel like this

Like I've never seen the sky before

Want to vanish inside your kiss

Every day I'm loving you more than this

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing,

Telling me to give you everything

Seasons may change, winter to spring

But I love you until the end of time

Come what may

I will love you until my dying day

Satine: Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace

Christian and Satine: Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste

Satine: It all revolves around you

Christian and Satine: And there's no mountain too high

No river too wide

Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side

Storm clouds may gather

And stars may collide

Christian: But I love you,

Satine: I love you

Christian: Until the end of time

Satine: Until the end of time

Christian and Satine: Come what may, come what may

I will love you until my dying day

Oh, come what may, come what may

I will love you

Satine: Oh, I will love you

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Christian and Satine: Come what may, come what may

I will love you, until my dying day!

El Tango De Roxanne

Argentinean: Jealousy will drive you mad

Roxanne

You don't have to put on the red light

Walk the streets for money

You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right

Roxanne

You don't have to wear that dress tonight

Roxanne

You don't have to sell your body to the night

Christian: His eyes upon your face

His hand upon your hand

His lips caress your skin

It's more than I can stand

Argentinean: Roxanne

Christian: Why does my heart cry?

Argentinean: Roxanne

Christian: Feelings I can't fight

You're free to leave me but

Just don't deceive me

And please believe me

When I say, I love you

Argentinean: Y yo que te quiero tanto que voy hacer?

Me dejaste, me dejaste...

En lagrimas se me fue

Se me fue el corazón

Ya no tengo ganas de vivir

Porque no te puedo convencer

Que no te vendas Roxanne

Argentinean: Roxanne

Christian: Why does my heart cry?

Argentinean: Roxanne

Christian: Feelings I can't fight

Argentinean: Roxanne

You don't have to put on that red light

Roxanne

You don't have to wear that dress tonight

Roxanne

His eyes upon her face

His hand upon her hand

His lips caress her skin

It's more than I can stand

Roxanne

Cast

Ewan McGregor as Christian
Nicole Kidman as Satine
John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec
Jacek Koman as The Narcoleptic Argentinean
Matthew Whittet as Satie
Jim Broadbent as Harold Zidler
Richard Roxburgh as The Duke of Monroth
Kylie Minogue as The Green Fairy
Kerry Walker as Marie
Garry McDonald as The Doctor
Deobia Oparei as Le Chocolat
Natalie Mendoza as China Doll
David Wenham as Audrey
Caroline O'Connor as Nini Legs In The Air
Kiruna Stamell as La Petite Princess

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