Cabaret
Rating: 
Director: Bob Fosse
Starring: Liza Minelli
Runtime: 124 mins
When a film is described as a ‘musical’, many will groan, while picturing cheesy scenes of men in tight trousers sliding over cars and women singing about the landscape. Cabaret, based on the 1966 Broadway musical by Kander and Webb, could not be further from this mould. It is a dark, seedy tale of 1930s Berlin, set in the midst of pre-World War II political unrest.
Brian Roberts (Michael York), an English academic, arrives in Berlin to study for a Phd. He meets Sally Bowles (Minnelli), an American cabaret singer at the Kit Kat Club. The two contrast sharply; Brian is reserved and Sally wild and “self-centred”. The rise of the Nazi party and the persecution of Jews provides a brilliantly communicated and sinister undercurrent to the film, progressing from the periphery of the story to a direct influence on the main characters by the end.
Fosse cleverly sets the songs - all except one - on the Kit Kat Club stage, making the film more realistic as the characters don’t suddenly burst into song and dance. The songs still apply to the story, however, often making cynical observations about the characters’ motives and behaviour.
Minelli’s performance is powerful and energetic, winning her the Oscar for Best Actress in the 1972 Academy Awards. Her performances onstage are the most striking of the film, and the song ‘Maybe This Time’, which she belts out to the empty club will blow you away. Michael York is the perfect Englishman; sexy and charming, superbly cast for this role. Joel Gray is involved with most of the musical numbers in this film, and his performance as the rather creepy Master of Ceremonies also won him an Oscar.
The true quality of the film, however, shines through in the cinematography; some of the shots are artistically beautiful, setting Cabaret apart from other classic musicals.
