PLOT: In 1899, Christian (Ewan McGregor) moves to the Montmartre district of Paris. He encounters a musical troupe led by Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) that is developing a new play for Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), owner of the Moulin Rouge. Christian's writing helps the show, entitled "Spectacular Spectacular", and Christian presents the work to its star courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman), to win her favour. Zidler has arranged for Satine to spend the night with the wealthy Duke of Monroth (Richard Roxburgh) who wishes to invest in the cabaret. Through miscommunication, Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke and begins seducing him despite his insistence he is only there to present his poetry. Even so Satine falls in love with Christan after he manages to recite one of his poems. The Duke enters while Satine is trying to hide Christian. Satine urges Christian to leave without the Duke noticing. After he refuses, she tells the Duke that they should wait and pushes him out. Once he has gone, Satine faints. The Duke returns, finding Christian and Satine in a compromising position. Satine states that Christian is only rehearsing. They improvise a new plot with an evil maharajah attempting to woo an Indian courtesan who is in love with a poor sitar player. The Duke agrees to finance the show on the condition that he is the only one allowed to see Satine.As the troupe prepares for the show, Satine and Christian's relationship becomes deeper, and they continually invent excuses as to why Satine cannot spend time with the Duke, who begins complaining to Zidler that Satine is spending too much time with Christian. After spying Satine and Christian together, Zidler promises the Duke that Satine will have dinner with him that night and goes to Satine, telling her to end the affair; after he leaves, Satine collapses, and a doctor's visit reveals that she has consumption. The Duke is enraged when Satine does not show up to dinner, but Zidler manages to salvage the situation by telling him that she is at confession. Satine tells Christian that they must end their relationship. Christian convinces her that they should stay together by writing ("Come What May") a song he will put in the show.Nini (Caroline O'Connor), jealous, points out that the play is a metaphor for Christian, Satine and the Duke. The Duke tells Zidler to change the ending so that the courtesan ends up with the maharajah. Satine insists that she spend the night with The Duke to discuss the ending, intending to sleep with him in order to get him to keep the play's original ending. That night, The Duke offers Satine a chance to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming an actress, but when Satine looks down from the window and sees Christian in the street, she is unable to go through with her plan to sleep with the Duke. The Duke attempts to rape Satine, but another dancer, Chocolat, saves Satine and takes her to Christian, who plans for the two of them to run away from the Moulin Rouge. The Duke reports this to Zidler and states that unless Satine is his, he will have Christian killed. Zidler finds Satine getting ready to leave and tells her that the Duke has ordered Christian killed, and that Satine is dying of consumption. The next day, Satine visits Christian's loft and claims that she is staying with The Duke. Christian follows Satine back to the Moulin Rouge only to be refused entry.On the opening night, Toulouse-Lautrec convinces Christian that Satine may still love him, so he sneaks into the Moulin Rouge. He approaches Satine, trying to pay her for their sex, but Satine attempts to send him away, fearing the Duke's bodyguard will kill him. They accidentally end up on stage together, confusing the performers and audience, but Zidler saves the show by stating that Christian is the sitar player in disguise. Christian tells The Duke that Satine belongs to The Duke now, throws money at her and tells her she means nothing to him. As Christian starts to leave the theater, Satine sings "Come What May," showing Christian that she loves him. Christian joins her in singing the song and walks onstage, angering The Duke. The Duke's bodyguard attempts to shoot Christian, but the courtesans and Bohemians stop him; the Duke then tries finishing the job himself only to be stopped by Zidler. The lovers finish their song to a standing ovation and the Duke storms out of the Moulin Rouge. As the performers get ready to take a bow, Satine succumbs to her illness, and dies in Christian's arms.

AWARDS & HONORS: The film was selected by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2001. It picked up six Golden Globe nominations including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Nicole Kidman), Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Ewan McGregor), Best Original Score (for Craig Armstrong), Best Director (for Baz Luhrmann) and Best Song ("Come What May"). It won three including the coveted Best Picture trophy. A few weeks later, it received 13 nominations at the BAFTA Awards, making it the most nominated film of the year for that ceremony. It took home three, including Best Supporting Actor for Jim Broadbent.The film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Nicole Kidman) and Best Picture. The film was not nominated for Best Director (Baz Luhrmann); commenting on this during the Oscar ceremony, host Whoopi Goldberg remarked, "I guess Moulin Rouge! just directed itself." The film won the awards for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction."Come What May" (the only original song in the film) was disqualified from nomination for an Oscar because it was originally written (but unused) for Luhrmann's previous film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and not written expressly for Moulin Rouge!Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Baz Luhrmann's trippy pop culture pastiche from 2001 was an aesthetically arresting ode to poetry, passion, and Elton John. It was so good, we'll forgive him for Australia."American Film Institute recognition

• 2004 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: "Come What May" #85
  
• 2005 AFI's 100 Years of Musicals #25
  

Wins

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
  
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Nicole Kidman)
  
• Golden Globe Award Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Craig Armstrong)
  
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - (Jim Broadbent)
  
• Academy Award for Art Direction-Set Decoration (Catherine Martin & Brigitte Broch)
  
• Academy Award for Costume Design (Catherine Martin & Angus Strathie)
  
• Producers Guild of America's Award for Best Picture
  
• National Board of Review's Award for Best Picture
  

Nominations

• Academy Award for Best Picture
  
• Academy Award for Best Actress (Nicole Kidman)
  
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Donald McAlpine)
  
• Academy Award for Film Editing (Jill Bilcock)
  
• Academy Award for Makeup (Maurizio Silvi & Aldo Signoretti)
  
• Academy Award for Sound (Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Roger Savage, Guntis Sics)
  
• Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (Baz Luhrmann)
  
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Ewan McGregor)
  
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song - Motion Picture (David Baerwald - song "Come What May")
  
• Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media