Cabaret (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
When British writer Brian Roberts (Michael York) arrives in 1931 Berlin to become a teacher, he meets Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), a flamboyant lounge singer in 'Cabaret' (directed by Bob Fosse, & based on a Broadway musical). Sally works at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, a Berlin cabaret where the grinning, androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces a 'girlie-show' to his morally corrupted audience. Almost all the movie's musical numbers are staged within the confines of said club, & each buoyant song comments on the plot & on Germany's 'progression' towards Hitler-ism. Blessed (or cursed) with an over-the-top personality, Sally seduces Brian into her dark, enticing world, connecting him with work, & even offering herself sexually to him.
When he refuses her advances, implying that he is gay, they continue to build a fun-loving friendship that eventually turns into a complicated 3-way relationship with a wealthy playboy. All the while, eccentric, promiscuous Sally overcompensates for her fragile emotional state by building her high hopes for a career as an actress. These hopes are based on associations with powerful men she meets at the club, but usually end in heartbreaking disappointment. When Sally finds out she's pregnant, Brian offers to marry her, but she realizes that their fantasy of a conventional life may not work.
Fosse uses the coincidingly anything-goes decadence & vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of a German society that was beginning to side with the Nazis. So while the film is 1st & foremost a pop entertainment, it blends with the social history of the Nazis in a way that gives this film more importance & gravity than it may not have had otherwise. And yet, this film is - for the most part - a heartbreaking tale of an emotionally scarred woman. Drop-dead gorgeous costumes, brilliant choreography, and songs performed by Minnelli & others. The film perfectly captures the anxiety of the pre-WWII era, where desperate times meant living life to the fullest, even if it's an exhausting & emotionally draining spectacle.
Liza Minnelli's portrayal of Sally Bowles is engaging, suitably tragic and, in the scope of Hollywood cinema ... pretty iconic. As the sleazy emcee of the club, Joel Grey steals every scene he is in. His visage is entrancing, his voice commands attention, & he trickles his way through the dance routines with zest & panache. Though made in 1972, the music still stands the test of time {Wilkommen, Tomorrow Belongs to Me – where a youth is gradually transformed into a Nazi}. Portions of the film come across a tad melodramatic. But timeless musicals like 'Cabaret' serve as both sheer entertainment, but also a stark, sobering reality check as to the world's state of tolerance both on the eve of Nazi AND today's despairing state of affairs.
When he refuses her advances, implying that he is gay, they continue to build a fun-loving friendship that eventually turns into a complicated 3-way relationship with a wealthy playboy. All the while, eccentric, promiscuous Sally overcompensates for her fragile emotional state by building her high hopes for a career as an actress. These hopes are based on associations with powerful men she meets at the club, but usually end in heartbreaking disappointment. When Sally finds out she's pregnant, Brian offers to marry her, but she realizes that their fantasy of a conventional life may not work.
Fosse uses the coincidingly anything-goes decadence & vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of a German society that was beginning to side with the Nazis. So while the film is 1st & foremost a pop entertainment, it blends with the social history of the Nazis in a way that gives this film more importance & gravity than it may not have had otherwise. And yet, this film is - for the most part - a heartbreaking tale of an emotionally scarred woman. Drop-dead gorgeous costumes, brilliant choreography, and songs performed by Minnelli & others. The film perfectly captures the anxiety of the pre-WWII era, where desperate times meant living life to the fullest, even if it's an exhausting & emotionally draining spectacle.
Liza Minnelli's portrayal of Sally Bowles is engaging, suitably tragic and, in the scope of Hollywood cinema ... pretty iconic. As the sleazy emcee of the club, Joel Grey steals every scene he is in. His visage is entrancing, his voice commands attention, & he trickles his way through the dance routines with zest & panache. Though made in 1972, the music still stands the test of time {Wilkommen, Tomorrow Belongs to Me – where a youth is gradually transformed into a Nazi}. Portions of the film come across a tad melodramatic. But timeless musicals like 'Cabaret' serve as both sheer entertainment, but also a stark, sobering reality check as to the world's state of tolerance both on the eve of Nazi AND today's despairing state of affairs.