Search form

CABARET (1972) (****)

Check Out the Trailer

Bob Fosse surprisingly won the best director Oscar over GODFATHER helmer Francis Ford Coppola for this melancholy musical. His handling of the material is entertaining, as well as subversively haunting. The design and choreography of the musical numbers begin with the sexual razzle-dazzle one would expect, but over the course of the film take on an unsettling freak show quality, as the Nazis come to power in 1930s Germany. Roger Ebert said it best -- the film ends with the joyous title song, which is underlined by total desperation.

Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli, ARTHUR) is a bohemian, ex-pat American, cabaret singer. She has drunk the kool aid of the cabaret lifestyle of living life like it’s an endless party. In to her boarding house comes proper English language teacher Brian Roberts (Michael York, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS). They develop a friendship that later develops into romance. Sally introduces her to all her acquaintances from the world of the cabaret, which includes gigolo Fritz Wendel (Fritz Wepper, THE LAST COMBAT) and the twisted Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey, BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS). Later Brian will inadvertently introduce Fritz to wealthy Jewish girl Natalia Landauer (Marisa Berenson, BARRY LYNDON) and Sally and Brian's relationship will be challenged by the presence of filthy-rich, decadent baron Maximilian von Heune (Helmut Griem, THE DAMNED).

In addition to Fosse, Minnelli won an Oscar for best actress and Grey won for best supporting actor. Both deserved the recognition for shiny performances. (However, some could argue that Al Pacino in THE GODFATHER should have won over Grey.) Minnelli commands the screen as the shocking party girl who lives her entire life as a whim. She is equally powerful in carrying the comedic, dramatic and musical elements of the role. The famed number where she is dressed in the skimpy, black outfit with the black bowler hat has become the iconic image from the film. The number oozes sex appeal. Grey drives the musical numbers as a kind of ringleader. His pale face make-up and puckered-style red lipstick becomes more garish over the course of time, adding to the increasingly seedier atmosphere in the cabaret. The devotees to the girlie saloon delude themselves about the growing danger of the Nazis. York's Brian is the only one who notices and cares to say something. For a time, he loses himself in the world, but never loses his soul to nihilism.

In addition to directing and the two acting Oscars, the film picked up five more awards for art direction, cinematography, editing, original music and sound — all of which it deserved. The art design is key to the tone, as is the photography. The editing helps add the subversive undertone, with the message peeking out in flashes from behind the "life's a party" façade. The production was also nominated for best picture and best screen adaptation. This is the kind of film that slowly builds its purpose, seeming like it's about nothing too meaningful until the meaning starts creeping into the corners and by the end you're broadsided into silence. That's why the treatment of the closing credits is so effective. You're left feeling like you've come down from a fun night of partying and wakened by the impact of your car careening into a pole. Not all musicals end with a happy song.

Rick DeMott's picture

Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks