Moulin Rouge

"I was truly impressed at José Ferrer and his depiction of the French post- impressionistic artist Henri Toulouse La Trec. Ferrer plays the role of both Henri and his father. Certainly, this is a dramatized story of Henri's life. The drama is mostly about Henri's life in Paris, and how what people perceived was his disability made him either an oddity, to be pitied, or a lovable but moody creative. Some characters are in a sense overdrawn, so it seems as if they are always overacting, and others seem dull, and underwhelming. I actually like the contrast, which is what La Trec painted; larger than life people, and others who were shunned or belittled by those in what is termed higher classes. He had two very distinctive sides to his personality, which he used to move in polite rich society, and also mingle with those of what he called the lower classes. La Trec is a tragic figure, but still presented as a witty, intelligent, and self abusive alcoholic man who poured out is pain into his art. "