The gift of song Baz Luhrmann's Best Film nominee Moulin Rouge! begins with Christian, a depressed writer mourning the death of his beloved. It tells of his arrival in Paris in search of ideals and a bohemian lifestyle, together with love. In his apartment he meets Toulouse-Lautrec and his group of actors. Shortly after Christian is invited to write the new play of “Spectacular Spectacular”, which is their new play. Their plan is to go to the Moulin Rouge nightclub and convince the owner Harold Zidler to finance them. Christian, Toulouse and the crew arrive at the club just in time to see the lead dancer, Satine, perform. Toulouse aims to make Zidler like Christian through Satine, so they try to arrange a meeting so he can impress Satine with his poetry. Coincidentally, a duke is to meet with Satine to discuss transforming the Moulin Rouge from a cancan club to a real theater for acting. Satine becomes acquainted with this duke and mistakes Christian for the duke, taking all his references to poetry as euphemisms for sex. He almost passes out, but continues with his meeting. As they meet in private, Christian reads to Satine and she still thinks there is an underlying sexual motive. There's a moment of simultaneous realization that Christian loves Satine as a rendition of Elton John's "Your Song" begins. He hides when the real duke enters and is immediately chased away by Satine. Cristiano leaves but the duke hastily returns. Coming to the rescue, Toulouse and Zidler intervene and convince the Duke that they are discussing the show, successfully avoiding conflict and convincing the Duke to get involved in Spectacular Spectacular. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Christian returns home, in love, and Satine returns to her chambers, not fully won over. Infatuated, Christian visits her rooftop and truly wins her heart, as they agree to a secret affair. Unfortunately, the Duke also desires Satine and makes her affection part of his contract to finance the Moulin Rouge. Although the two have a secret relationship, the Duke and Christian have conflicting obligations. Satine also does not participate, as she passes out after coughing up blood. After Zidler saves the Duke's frustrations with another lie, he discovers that Satine is ill and dying. She wakes up and goes to Christian as they're coming to the end of the show's rehearsals: bad news, she has to sleep with the Duke and she knows that Christian won't be able to deal with the jealousy. Christian, as a parting note, inserts a secret song into the play to remind them both of their love for each other. When the Duke sees the end of the play, he realizes that the play parallels Satine's life and demands that Satine's character choose the Duke's resemblance to love. Christian explodes and says it can't be, because he doesn't love the duke. The day arrives and Satine goes to the duke in private, while an anguished and frustrated Christian can only watch. When the time comes, Satine refuses to have sex with him and the duke is knocked out with rage. Satine rushes to Christian and they plan to run away together. Satine goes to pack her bags, but is approached by Zidler. He lets her know that he is dying, leading her to tell Christian that she chose the duke to save him the news of his death. She continues to perform the show, and a heartbroken Christian steps in to pay her for her "services." Christian is almost killed by the Duke's bodyguard, but Toulouse thwarts the bodyguard. Toulouse repeats what is.