Baz Luhrmann - Auteur Theory

Auteur theory is when the Director is seen as the author of a film. Auteurs can be recognised by familiarities in their work, such as common cast, particular techniques, visual styles etc.

Distinct visual styles and techniques

I would say the Baz Luhrmann's style is to be big. The colours, sets and stories are usually of a big scale. Big parties and events, (Great Gatsby, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge), a moderate amount of action (sometimes portrayed in slow motion; Gatsby, Romeo + Juliet). Baz Luhrmann likes to create visual versions of classic stories with his own modern stylisation without changing the story, characters or mood too much. I would say that the colours in Luhrmann's films are quite metallic colours. He uses a lot of areas with small bits of light bouncing off in foreground, background etc. In a lot of Luhrmann's films he uses glowing effects to make scenes softer. He focuses a lot on the sets. He makes them highly detailed, large and full of grand colours. He uses a lot of large outdoor areas as well, where characters look out to sea or the river with the sky portraying the mood. He uses washed out colouring for depressing scenes, bright colours against dark backgrounds for intense moments - this is shown in Great Gatsby (Myrtle's death scene) and Romeo + Juliet (Tybalt's Death Scene)

Recurring themes

Baz Luhrmann uses modern music in a lot of his films. In Romeo and Juliet the music is from the present day, as the film is set, but the film has a classic theme because of the original script and story. In Moulin Rouge he uses 70s and 80s music to depict this classic tale and make the soundtrack memorable. He uses the memory of music from his younger days, ancient myths and references from classic plays to make a contrast of time periods. He continued his Classic love stories theme with Great Gatsby which is an interesting take on a love story. For this film, he set it in the past and used a lot of the dialogue from the original book but he used modern music. This was disliked by some but liked by others. This continued his modernising style and gave the events in the film a more interesting and exciting feel for modern audiences - who may have found the original story slow and boring. Using almost club music for 20s parties really makes it bigger and more extravagant. On a lot of his film posters it has a stage show theme. The titles are lit and framed in a very theatre-way.


Recurring cast and crew

In his career on stage and film he has worked with Catherine Martin; Costume designer, production designer and his wife. Luhrmann has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in both Romeo + Juliet and Great Gatsby. Nicole Kidman is the lead role in 2 of his films, and he's also worked with John Leguizamo for 2 films. For 2 of his big films Luhrmann used Craig Armstrong and another 2 used David Hirschfelder. I think theses are his favourites for scores. For his first 3 big films he used Jill Bilcock as his film editor. He used the same Cinematographer - Donald McAlpine for 2 of his major films.

Significant body of work

He has only made 5 major films and 8 shorts. The films he has made are quite well known and have his distinct style. 4/ the 5 films are quite well known and are usually seen as his films by those who know them. Usually makes modernised versions of classic love stories. Romeo and Juliet uses the original Shakespeare script depicted using modern mise en scene. Moulin rouge uses poetry to portray the love story using a similar classic feel like Shakespeare. Great Gatsby uses a lot of dialogue and narration taken from the original novel.


This clip explains the making of one scene from the Great Gatsby - narrated by Baz Luhrmann. The particular scene is very close the original book and is only adapted by Leonardo DiCaprio.