Definitely check out the 1936 Greta Garbo film "Camille". Moulin Rouge obviously lifts very heavily from this film (more like an homage than flat out copying) but some really striking similarities and the old movie still holds up today.
shareI was watching Camille today and thought the very same thing. The scene with Lionel Barrymore and Greta Garbo is almost exactly like the exchange between Zidler and Satine. And the scene thereafter is painfully similar to that between Satine and Christian. The movie pulls heavily from Camille. No doubt. Glad someone else caught that. :)
shareWow! I never even thought of that, but I have seen Camille, and you're right. No wonder Moulin Rouge felt cliche to me, like a love-story that didn't seem real!
I do respect Moulin Rouge for its technical qualities, but as a story, it seemed so unoriginal. Well, I guess that's why---turns out, I've basically seen it before! And I think I believed it more in the 1936 version.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!