Kurt Andersen and director Baz Luhrmann talk about the art of the spectacle.

Baz Luhrmann is the auteur behind Moulin Rouge, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, and a Broadway production of Puccini’s La Boheme. A writer, director, and producer born in Australia, Luhrmann took Hollywood by storm with a garishly colored, exuberant aesthetic. He also scored a gold record with Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen). He is at work on a film about Alexander the Great, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.