Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole.

The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film. Self-reflexivity is employed in Romeo + Juliet by immediately drawing attention to the fact that the film is represented as a news report rather than the original format of a Shakespearean play. The Sycamore Grove beach where we meet Romeo has a broken down theatre that is reminiscent of The Globe theatre where the original Romeo and Juliet was performed. This incorporation of a theatre, the use of title cards and symbols such as theatre masks allow the audience to be reminded that the construct is not the original but a re-adaptation of a Shakespearean play. Moulin Rouge begins with the introduction of a red curtain and conductor; the viewer is positioned as an audience member, which makes the audience conscious that they are watching a ‘play’ or work of