Baz Luhrmann

de Tom Ryan

This is a fascinating collection of interviews with Academy Award winning director Baz Luhrmann. Though he has made only five films in two decades - Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and the Oscarnominated films Moulin Rouge!, Australia, and The Great Gatsby - Australian writer-director Baz Luhrmann is an internationally known brand name. His name has even entered the English language as a verb, as in "to Baz things up," meaning "to decorate them with an exuberant flourish." Celebrated by some, loathed by others, his work is underscored by what has been described as "an aesthetic of artifice" and is notable for both its glittering surfaces and recurring concerns. In this collection of interviews, Luhrmann discusses his methods and his motives, explaining what has been important to him and his collaborators from the start and how he has been able to maintain an independence from the studios that have backed his films. He also speaks about his other artistic endeavours, including stage productions of La Boheme and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his wife and collaborative partner Catherine Martin, who has received two Academy Awards for her work with Luhrmann.