The film follows artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec as he navigates the bohemian subculture of 19th-century Paris, centered around the Moulin Rouge, a burlesque venue.

In 1890 Paris, crowds gather at the Moulin Rouge as artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec finishes a bottle of cognac while sketching the dancers.

A flashback shows that, as a child, he injured his legs in a fall, which never healed due to a genetic disorder from his parents being first cousins.

Depressed, Henri returns home and contemplates suicide but finds sudden inspiration to complete the Moulin Rouge poster.

One day, he meets a young woman, Myriamme, on the Pont Alexandre III, seemingly about to jump into the Seine.

The key Myriamme discarded belonged to a suitor, Marcel de la Voisier, who wanted her as a lover but refused to marry her.

The next day, Henri receives a letter from Myriamme, confessing her love and that his bitterness has ruined their chance at happiness.

To transform Ferrer into Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, various techniques were employed, including the use of platforms, concealed pits, special camera angles, makeup, and costumes.

It was reported that John Huston asked cinematographer Oswald Morris to render the color scheme of the film to look "as if Toulouse-Lautrec had directed it".

The sets, costumes and photography are, indeed, on a much higher level than the rest; there are moments when the surface achieves a fine visual approximation of Lautrec's Paris, and as a result of which the vulgarity of the treatment appears all the more discordant.

"[6] During its first year of release it earned £205,453 in UK cinemas[7] and grossed $9 million at the North American box office.

Leonard Maltin, in his annual Movie and Video Guide declared: "If you can't catch this in color, skip it.

[citation needed] The Moulin Rouge theme song became well known and made it onto the record industry charts.