In the year 1900, a man named Christian, suffering from depression, begins writing on his typewriter ("Nature Boy"). As Christian narrates, the film flashes back to one year earlier upon Christian's move to the Montmartre district of Paris to become a writer among members of the area's Bohemian movement. He soon discovers that his neighbours are a loose troupe of performers led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec and the others ask for Christian's help, and his writing skills allow them to finish their proposed show, Spectacular Spectacular, that they wish to sell to the owner of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler. The group arrives at the Moulin Rouge as Zidler and his "Diamond Dog Dancers" perform for the audience ("Zidler's Rap Medley/Can Can Dance"). Toulouse arranges for Christian to see Satine, the star courtesan, in her private quarters to present the work, unaware that Zidler has been promising Satine to the wealthy and psychopathic Duke of Monroth, a potential investor in the cabaret ("Sparkling Diamonds").