'Mesdames et Messieurs, Herren und Damen, Ladies and Gentlemen S Zat international zenzation: Fraulein Sally Bowles!' And with that memorable introduction from Joel Grey's lewd and eerily demonic master of ceremonies at Berlin's Kit Kat Club, Liza Minelli launches into an Oscar-winning performance. Flashing eyes and thighs and radiating nervous energy she writhes to the infectious rhythms of 'Mein Herr' and electrifies the audience, both inside the club and the cinema auditorium.
Based on the Broadway musical and Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, the structure of Bob Fosse's 1972 film of Cabaret was developed to suit our notion of Minelli, not just her mannered gaucheness but also her heritage ('What good is sitting alone in your room?' 'She was the loveliest corpse I've ever seen' surely an endorsement of the way Minelli's mother Judy Garland 'lived life to the full, rejecting caution'). With hindsight the film also seems sadly prescient of Minelli's own inability to fulfil her potential. 'I'm going to be a great film star,' declares Sally. 'That is if booze and sex don't get me first.' Booze and sex did get Minelli, but like Sally, she's a survivor.
And if Sally is deluded about her own acting abilities, so was Minelli. She won an Oscar for her performance, and she is without doubt utterly magnetic and captivating. Little can match her memorable turns in the Kit Kat Club. But unfortunately Cabaret is weighed down by the need for a story and ultimately Minelli's performance as Sally is all false eyelashes and metallic green nails.
Living in an eccentric boarding house, Sally hooks up with uptight Cambridge student Brian (Michael York), but they are soon distracted by baron Maximillion (Helmut Griem). The maudlin culmination of this trite love triangle (no matter how daringly provocative for Hollywood in 1972) seriously slows the film and these narrative sections are noticeable for their lack of background, toe-tapping rhythm.
Reader comments about Cabaret
helen right (helenright@lycos.co.uk) writes:
Cabaret is one of the best musicals I have ever seen, that and the Rocky Horror Show. Liza Minnelli gives an amazing performance as Sally Bowles and what ever your first impressions of her, you will find her endearing by the end of the film. By the way, Minnelli has two 'n's in it, not one.
Jacqui (Email address withheld) writes:
While Cabaret is about the struggle of identity, sexuality and love, it is also a story about the rise of Nazism. The story of Sally Bowles and Brian is juxtaposed with the violence and impending terror of the outside world. They have been so self-indulgent and involved in their personal drama that they are oblivious to what is happening around them
angela (ange_obrien@hotmail.com) writes:
cabaret is an unique musical based around the notion of decadence and the impending rise of the nazi's. i have studied cabaret this year for year 12 and i have found it to be a juxtapostion of numerous sub plots and story lines all rolled into the one film.
Chris Prouse (prouse@pei.sympatico.ca) writes:
Cabaret, in my mind, is one of the best movies ever made. Liza Minnelli may have had her problems latter but her perormance is so spectacular in Cabaret that she will will leave a legacy that is much greater than any I will leave.
Alon Siton (alonx@hotmail.com) writes:
I watched Cabaret for the first time when I was only fourteen years old, and had an instant crush on Liza, whose superb appearance as the easy-going performer Sally Bowles had opened my eyes to a world unknown to me until then. Though somewhat theatrical, Cabaret is exactly the sort of Weltstadt Berlin that I'd pay a fortune to live in - a cosmopolitan metropolis, free of all worry and concern, and still so painfully unaware of the oncoming horrors of WWII and the Nazi rule.
Roaring Berlin would have been THE city for me -unfortunately, I'm late by some sixty years. It's just a big Nowhereville today.
Zlatan Gelb, Ph.D. (zlatan.gelb@hrstud.hr) writes:
The best film of the rising nazism. This film is the worst verdict about brutallity of the nazi regime. In fact this film show how German people accepted the politics of the Adolf Hitler and the consequences for the lives of the innocent people. I think that films like "Cabaret" is necessary tool in the education about WW2
Gez Hernandez (gez.hernandez@ntlworld.com) writes:
I loved this film when I first saw it in the early seventies. I was then in the original stage play 'I Am A Camera'
by Chris Isherwood, in 1973 at Dusseldorf W/Germany and later directed
the play in 1981 in Cyprus. I found the play to be much more honest, however the film and music are so addictive.
You end up singing the songs for weeks
The song that haunted me the most is the German Youth Song, the title escapes me. An excellent Film Musical.
M (Email address withheld) writes:
i absolutely loved this musical! much like Chicago, i loved the singing, especially by liza minelli- she deserved the oscar! same as for joel grey. i loved his performance!!! this is a truly great film, and should have won best picture instead of The Godfather.
MB (mbjjs@wanadoo.fr) writes:
Hello everybody,
I search for the word of the song WILLKOMMEN of the film Cabaret and the word of the song MEIN HERR. Someboy can it help me ? Thank you.
Bonjour à tous,
Je cherche les paroles de la chanson WILLKOMMEN du film Cabaret ainsi que les paroles de MEIN HERR toujours du film Cabaret. Quelqu'un peut il m'aider. Merci beaucoup
Zine Benaissa (zine.benaissa@topnet.tn) writes:
Cabaret c'est de loin le film que j'ai le plus vu dans ma vie. 23 fois dans une salle de cinéma et peut-être une cinquantaine de fois si on inclut télé et cassette vidéo. Pourquoi ? Je n'en sais rien ! sans doute pour retrouver ce sentiment d'ébahissement profond que j'ai eu la première fois que jel'ai vu. Et à chaque fois que je le revois, je retrouve, ne serait-ce que pour quelques minutes, cette sensation profonde et rare qui m'a secoué il y a 30 ans. Ce n'est peut-être pas le plus beau film du monde, mais c'est certainement le film de ma vie.
lucinda taylor-milne (Email address withheld) writes:
Cabaret is one of the best films i have ever seen plus i got it free with the paper.The characters played by Micheal York and Liza Minelli are outstanding,I think my favourate parts are when they first meet and at the end when Liza Minelli sing "what is the point of sitting alone in your room"
Vera (Email address withheld) writes:
An interesting reflection of the times - the dingy, smoke-filled Kit Kat Bar/Theatre complete with Damenorchester and table telephones to arrange immediate gratification. The forced gaiety and hedonism and life of excess amid the Nazi assaults seemed representational of the times. What was quite captivating was the scene of the young Nazi expressing his ardour for the pure, fresh future, to the Nazi salute. How gullible a nation can be is quite frightening.Joel Grey was the personification of depravity.
(Email address withheld) writes:
I'm an Actor and dancer. I saw Cabaret when I was twelve and it was a film that inspired me very much. Liza Mannelli is just so fantastic, she portrays the role very much. Bob Fosse's choreography is just as good as the film, i really enjoyed it. Its a must see movie!!!!
caro (pitchoune.ccj@free.fr) writes:
cabaret est un vrai petit bijou.
liza minelli y est remarquable et les chansons pariculièremnet réussies.
ça n'a pas pris une ride!!
d'ailleurs je recherche les paroles de money money et mein herr.
alors si quelque qu'un sais où les trouver faites-moi signe.
Merci
Tyler.D. (Email address withheld) writes:
Bravo Cabaret! This film is so fabulously stylish and funny that I watch it all the time. It's so modern and addictive and witty; 'You're about as 'fatale' as an after-dinner mint!'. All the characters are fantastically individual and well-acted, and Minelli is just to die for.
'Bye, bye mein liebe heir. Farewell mein liebe-heir. Its been a fine affair, but now its over!' Divine!
amanda tregale (atregale@totalise.co.uk) writes:
well i am playing the part of lulu, and need to know what to wear for the part, can u help?
katrina (helolampost@yahoo.com) writes:
cabaret is an amazing film of which inspired me to dance and i am now a member of the joffrey ballet academy of new york and take lessons at the broadway dance theatre steps and am currently performing in the broadway play cabaet. thank you liza minelli and bob fosse.
Nora (Email address withheld) writes:
To say that "Minelli's performance as Sally is all false eyelashes and metallic green nails" is totally ignorant. Perhaps Maurer was unable to see beyond these flashy aspects, however, this does not make Liza's performance anything short of fantastic. She adds life, energy, and depth to Sally's character (something that Natasha Richardson could not do). Liza takes Sally beyond the fabulous, sex addicted girl, cabaret and creates a real character.
As for the "need for a story," the film Cabaret has a much more captivating plot than the stage musical. The tiresome old couple is replaced by a new young and exciting pair. And, unnecessary and uninteresting songs like "A Pineapple For Me" and "What Would You Do?" are cut, therefore enhancing the momentum of the story.
Richard Jamann (Email address withheld) writes:
I think Cabaret is a document about Nazism. I would die for this film. it is a perfect work of art. every breath of Minnelli's virtuoso performance is a reminder of artistic perfection.
This film is anecessary part of everyone's education; more subtle than Kafka, more elusive than Shakespeare (yes!), this is a work of genius, pure unadulterated genius.
This is the best movie in the history of the film, and it has made me into a better human being. It is all.
lolly (Email address withheld) writes:
i love cabaret with a passion, i am performing this spectacular performance at my musical night at college, the whole stockings and suspender belts! should be a good laugh.
Judit (Email address withheld) writes:
I am shocked by the insensitiveness and superficiality of the review above. Fortunately the commentators have put it right by making references to the main values of the film, among others how it reflects the subtle infiltration of Nazism into everyday life, and showing how it gradually became more and more cruel and aggressive.
Cassie (cassie@fiford.com) writes:
One of the best films i have seen ever before though I may only have lived a short life (I am 14 years old)! i found this film one inthralling and completely captivating! My favourite part is where they're under the train bridge and the train goes over their heads i love the way Brian refuses to scream at first! Though i have no idea what 'devine decadance and 'femme fatal' are i rate this film 20/10 and well done to liza minneli. Brian is also very cute a much better performance in comparison to the old version of Romeo and Juliet which we watched in English. But i was rather shocked during the film to find out about how he really didn't just sleep with women!
i leave you with 3 words...LIFE IS A CABARET
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