About this episode

Baz Luhrmann discusses his career and the significance of music in his films, particularly focusing on 'Time After Time'.

My guest today is Baz Luhrmann, the award-winning director whose films include Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom , The Great Gatsby, Elvis, and Romeo + Juliet. His newest film is EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert , a critically acclaimed documentary about Elvis that’s playing right now in theaters and in IMAX. Before becoming a massively successful film director, Baz began his showbiz career as an actor, and as a ballroom dancer, in Australia. His first film was Strictly Ballroom , which came out in 1992, and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time. It was originally a play, and there’s a song in the film that was part of the story all the way back when it was first performed on stage. And that’s what Baz and I talked about for this episode. For more info, visit songexploder.net/baz-luhrmann.

People in this episode

Host: Hrishikesh Hirway

Guest: Baz Luhrmann

Topics covered

• film direction
• music in film
• Elvis Presley
• Australian cinema
• Baz Luhrmann
• storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Time After Time, Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom, The Great Gatsby, Elvis, Romeo + Juliet, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

Places: Australia

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