Baz Lurhmann’s regret about David Bowie
Baz Luhrmann released his showstopping biopic Elvis this year, his first release in nearly a decade following 2013’s The Great Gatsby. The Australian director is not a fan of subtleties, as demonstrated by his glamorously indulgent filmography, jam-packed with musical numbers, unabashed decadence, and highly-stylised visuals.
Therefore, central to Luhrmann’s films is a good soundtrack that ties everything together. He has included various popular artists on his soundtracks, often commissioning artists to create tracks specifically for his movies. For 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, the director employed Radiohead to perform the closing credits song, ‘Exit Music (For a Film)’, which appeared on their 1997 album OK Computer. Similarly, Luhrmann had Lana Del Rey create ‘Young and Beautiful’ for The Great Gatsby.
Most recently, Doja Cat, one of the most prominent pop artists of recent years, performed her take on ‘Hound Dog’ for Elvis called ‘Vegas’. Speaking of the star, the director said: “I’ve worked with Madonna and Beyoncé and I see something similar in Doja Cat: she’s just a really, really hard worker. And when you see her on stage, my god, she’s a good dancer.”
Luhrmann incorporates popular music into his films, no matter the era they’re set in. For his film Moulin Rouge!, Lurhmann pulled out all the stops, incorporating so much popular music that it took him almost two and a half years to secure the rights to every track. This was essential, as Luhrmann describes the film as “a story told through song”.
One musician that contributed an original recording was David Bowie, who covered Nat King Cole’s ‘Nature Boy’, which he called “slinky and mysterious.” A remix by Massive Attack was also included on the soundtrack, which Bowie called “a riveting piece of work.” Furthermore, Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’ appears in a medley during the film, sung by Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Jamie Allen, and ‘Diamond Dogs’, covered by Beck, can also be heard.
Bowie’s involvement in the soundtrack thus led to a friendship between him and Luhrmann after being a lifelong fan of the musician. The director stated that hearing ‘Changes’ for the first time cemented his love for Bowie. He recalled: “I eventually worked with him and then towards the end of his life, he became a very good friend.”
The director continued: “He used to come round and we’d walk the dogs. We were talking about going to Berlin at one point to do something together. I must have been so stupid, why didn’t I just say yes?” Luhrmann deeply regrets not working with Bowie on a larger scale before his tragic death after a secret cancer battle in 2016.
