Biography: Baz Luhrmann

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From the red-hot pasa doble of "Strictly Ballroom" to the whirling theatrical extravaganza of "Moulin Rouge!" director Baz Luhrmann has created some of the most striking film sequences of the past 15 years.

With his wife and creative partner, Catherine Martin, Luhrmann developed the concept of "Red Curtain" cinema -- simple stories set in heightened otherworlds, where the devices used (song, dance, iambic pentameter) drive the action and anyone can be a hero for a day.

His first feature film, "Strictly Ballroom" (1992), a camp romantic comedy and paean to the pasa doble, found fans amongst both high-end film buffs, winning the Cannes Prix de Jeunesse, and the Dirty Dancing brigade. Follow-up "Romeo + Juliet" (1996) saw star-crossed lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes transported to modern-day Verona Beach in a dreamy, impressionistic interpretation of the classic tragedy.

But it was with 2001's Oscar-nominated "Moulin Rouge!" that Luhrmann stepped into the spotlight, as Nicole Kidman's courtesan and Ewan McGregor's impoverished writer played out a doomed love story in the famous Parisian nightclub. Though "Moulin Rouge!" left the critics divided, it received a rapt response from fans, who adored its panstick and powder-infused bohemian ambience, audacious set pieces and shameless thefts from popular music, from Elton John to Nirvana.

Following his Red Curtain trilogy, Luhrmann planned to move onto epic storytelling. He started work on a retelling of Alexander the Great, set to star Leonardo DiCaprio. But the film was set aside when Oliver Stone's version was released -- and flopped -- in 2004.

Renaissance man Luhrmann has not limited his work to movie-making. His 1990 stage production of "La Boheme" was revived for Broadway in 2002 and received seven Tony nominations. He worked on the 1994 election campaign of Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating; scored a UK number one hit single with "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"; and his Red Curtain-inspired 2004 film for Chanel No. 5, starring Nicole Kidman, is reputedly one of the most expensive adverts of all time.

Luhrmann's latest movie, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, will see him draw on his homeland for inspiration. The outback epic, simply titled "Australia," tells the tale of an English aristocrat (Kidman) whose grueling journey of self-discovery alongside cattle drover Jackman is set against the backdrop of World War II. Luhrmann is so far (unlike his wife) unrewarded by the Academy, and many will be waiting to see if he can pull off his most ambitious project to date: if he does, he stands to join the world's greatest and most innovative directors.

Filmography:
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)

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