Mythology & Folklore influenced Moulin Rouge!

Baz Luhrmann actually called Orpheus the film's “primary myth.” In a later letter about the film, he explained that he and co-writer Craig Pearce started with the Orpheus myth and then placed it in 1890s Belle Époque Paris and the bohemian world of Montmartre.

• Christian mirrors Orpheus as a gifted writer and musician driven by love.
• Satine mirrors Eurydice as the beloved woman whose death cannot be prevented.
• Both stories portray an artist trying to overcome or escape the power of death.
• Both end with the lover losing his beloved, transforming love into tragedy.