Moulin Rouge! was a whirlwind of a film, an extravagant assault on the senses that reinvigorated the musical. The doomed love affair between Satine (Nicole Kidman), a glamorous cabaret star and courtesan, and Christian (Ewan McGregor), an impoverished English poet, in turn-of-the-century Paris plays out in feverish song-and-dance numbers made up of medleys of iconic pop songs.