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12/01/2014

Cabaret (1972) - Liza Minnelli steals (nearly) the whole great show in Fosse's classic musical



The classic poster for Bob Fosse's Cabaret

QUICK REVIEW:

Berlin, 1931: In the Kit Kat Club, American Sally Bowles performs in the burlesque show with her daring song and dance acts. She and Brian, the bisexual from Cambridge, develop a close relationship.

Liza Minnelli (New York, New York (1977)) is wonderful (and quite often "desperate"), and Michael York (The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)) probably has the best character of his entire career here in Bob Fosse's (All That Jazz (1979)) classic, erotic, romantic, dramatic musical.
Nazism is haunting Weimar-republic Germany in this period, and the way it creeps into the decadent bohemian lifestyle in Berlin is portrayed piercingly to an often bloodcurdling effect.
Some of Cabaret's wilder impulses and its somewhat loose ending aren't necessarily that successful, and Sally Bowles and the motto of the film, (that life is nothing but a cabaret), are, evaluated soberly, amoral and bordering on twaddle. And yet ...
Cabaret is an undeniable classic. With glorious pictures by English cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)), authentic period atmosphere, (the film was shot in Germany), and magnificent performances.



Expressionist-style poster for Bob Fosse's Cabaret


Watch the trailer here

Cost: Est. 2.2 - 6 mil. $
Box office: 42.7 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Cabaret was a smash hit critically and commercially; it won 8 Oscars, making it historically the film that has earned most Oscars without getting Best Picture, (it lost that and Best Adapted Screenplay to The Godfather (1972). Among others Fosse, Minnelli and Unsworth were honored with Oscars, as well as Joel Grey (Kafka (1991)), who plays the vivacious emcee.]

What do you think of Cabaret?
What's your favorite musical and why?

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