Baz Luhrmann's birthday: Looking back at all his directorial projects
Director-actor-producer Baz Luhrmann is celebrating his 61st birthday on Sunday (September 17). Touted to be the most commercially successful Australian director, Luhrmann has made a name for himself globally through his distinctive filmmaking style and ability to read the audience's pulse. As he turns a year older, let's take a look at his journey as a director so far.
Red Curtain Trilogy (1992-2001)
Luhrmann broke into the mainstream space through his critically acclaimed Red Curtain Trilogy, which consists of Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Moulin Rouge! (2001). While the films are not direct sequels of each other, per Luhrmann, they are linked through a common thread of similar themes and follow the same style of filmmaking, along with a theater motif in each part.
'Elvis' (2022)
The most recent on the list is the Oscar-nominated film Elvis, starring Austin Butler in the titular role and tracing the life of the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. When it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, it reportedly received a 12-minute standing ovation! A resounding critical and commercial success, it brought fame to both Butler and Luhrmann.
'The Great Gatsby' (2013)
The Great Gatsby—adapted from F Scott Fitzgerald's eponymous novel—stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, and Isla Fisher, among others. The historical romantic drama film may have divided the critics, but it remains Luhrmann's most commercially successful film to this date, with an estimated global earning of $353.6M. It won an Oscar each in Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
'Australia' (2008)
Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman teamed up for Australia, which was shot in locations such as Darwin and Bowen and set against the backdrop of the Second World War. The Times wrote in its Australia review that defying expectations, "in what turns out to be a multi-layered story, it describes an Australia of the 1940s that is at once compellingly beautiful and breathtakingly cruel."
