Introducing… Baz Luhrmann

Biography Mark Anthony “Baz” Luhrmann Born 17th September 1962 in Sydney Father was a farmer, Mother was a ballroom dance teacher and dress shop owner. He was raised in a tiny rural settlement in NSW. His dad ran a petrol station and a movie theatre – both which influenced his career greatly.

Career He began working in theatre, and after several successes in this industry, including the stage version of Strictly Ballroom, he moved into directing films. He has directed four films: Strictly Ballroom (1992) William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet (1996) Moulin Rouge! (1999) Australia (2008) His next major piece is a film adaptation of the very famous novel, The Great Gatsby.

‘Red Curtain Style’ This is the style that Baz Luhrmann works with in his three films: Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge! It follows a set of conventions Theatricalised cinema Uses heightened cinematic language (production techniques) The films follow a set of rules…

Rules of ‘Red Curtain Style’ Simple, identifiable myths. The audience knows the story, they know how the film will end. The film is not about revealing plot. Set in heightened creative worlds. They are distant and far away to our own, but we can recognise aspects of our world in them. ‘Naturalism’ is avoided, as this can be boring for an audience. Techniques are used to keep the audience awake. In Romeo and Juliet, iambic pentameter and the ‘ancient’ Elizabethan language is used for this purpose. He also uses extreme cinematography, an intense soundtrack and bold and vibrant colours to help engage the ‘teenager viewer’ and keep their short attention spans interested.