Cabaret | | Cast : | Liza Minnelli, Michael York | | Director : | Bob Fosse | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | February 13, 1972 | | DVD Released Date : | August 19, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 11, 2005 | | Summary | An excellent musical; one of the greatest films as well | Content
 | "Cabaret" is about a young lady named Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) who performs at the Kit Kat Club every night, but dreams of becoming a famous actress. She meets a British tutor named Brian Roberts (Michael York), and they instantly become friends, then lovers. It takes place in 1931 Berlin, just when the Nazis are gaining political power. The performances in this movie are all incredible; Liza was perfectly cast as Sally, and Michael York is wonderful in his role of Brian. Joel Grey is just disturbing and brilliant in his portrayal of the Master of Ceremonies, the role he originated in the Broadway production of "Cabaret". Most musicals have the characters all break out into unified song and dance, but not this movie; all musical numbers are (cleverly) performed in the Kit Kat Club, making it very realistic indeed. The only song not performed in the club is "Tomorrow Belongs To Me", a chilling song sung by a group of Nazis and patriotic Germans. It starts off with a young man singing, and he eventually leads the surrounding Germans into singing the song with violent nationalism. All the musical numbers are excellent, and are all different in their own ways. Bob Fosse's choreography is also excellent. The only problem I have with the movie is that, upon first viewing, I didn't really like it much. But some of the songs grew on me, and I watched it again; now, it's one of my favorite films of all time. I highly reccommend this movie, although it may take two or three viewings to truly appreciate it. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 21, 2005 | | Summary | BAD DVD!!!!!!!! | Content
| Back cover states the DVD is Enhanced for Widescreen TVs etc and it is NOT 16:9 enhanced Warner Bros home Video will not even comment on this mistake. So NOW I OWN TWO copies of the same exact DVD different artwork is all. WARNER BROS should offer refunds! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 05, 2005 | | Summary | Eat, drink, and be merry. . . | Content
| One of the most politically and socially significant films ever produced, Cabaret is as unsettling as it is exhilarating. This 7-time Academy Award®-winning film based on the controversial Broadway musical, tells the disturbing story of a fourth-rate American cabaret chanteuse trying to survive in Berlin during the final days of the Weimar Republic. The overriding concept of the film actually serves as a biting and painful metaphor for a morally bankrupt and self-indulgent society so intoxicated by its own rotting decadence and corruption that it fails-or more appropriately, refuses-to realize that it is about to dive head-first into the fires of an apocalyptic nightmare that will ultimately cost the lives of over 11 million people. Liza Minnelli is astounding in her star-making role as the deluded and self-absorbed nightclub singer Sally Bowles, based on the infamous character of Christopher Isherwood's novel, "Goodbye to Berlin." Bob Fosse deserved his Best Director Oscar for creating a hyper-stylized visualization of Berlin as it was rotting to the core in the early 30s just as the Nazis were gathering in the wings. But the real show-stopper here is Joel Grey, the horrifyingly demonic and sneering Master of Ceremonies, shrugging his shoulders and smirking at us through the camera with a disturbingly hypnotic twinkle in his eye acknowledging that we all know exactly what history has in store.
Cabaret can be thought of more than just a musical. Unlike the unrealistic musicals of the 40s and 50s in which the characters burst into song out of the middle of nowhere, the musical numbers here are strictly prohibited to stage numbers at the Kit Kat Klub, an alteration from the Broadway version that significantly adds to the reality of this spectacle. Furthermore, if you want to get the entire message of the film in a minute and a half, pay particular attention to the scene when Sally, Brian and Max are driving through downtown Berlin. Listen closely to their conversation juxtaposed against what they are observing on the street outside the car. If taken into social and historical context, the scene is so unnerving, you'll be left speechless.
Overall, if you want to watch a film that is not only an important lesson on the fragility of humanity, but could also be a mirror for contemporary society, then don't miss Cabaret. The movie's ending will leave you (as it did me the first time I saw it) in stunned silence, thinking twice about social apathy in the context of the potentially devastating nightmare we are now experiencing at the dawn of the 21st century. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 03, 2005 | | Summary | One of the greatest films of all time. | Content
| Hands down, this is my favorite musical film (and I love musical films). Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical "Berlin Stories" were adapted for the stage by John Van Druten as "I Am a Camera" and then as a musical by Hal Prince-John Kander-Fred Ebb-Joe Masteroff. When the musical finally brought to the screen in 1972 by dance master Bob Fosse, you might have thought the material would have been exhausted. Think again. Bob Fosse was a genius. His direction is absolutely inspired (so good that he won the Oscar). Jay Presson Allen's screenplay is a marvel - Isherwood couldn't have asked for a more faithful adaptation. Every detail - art direction, sound, costumes, photography and film editing are superb. Liza Minnelli (so wonderful in "The Sterile Cuckoo") won the Oscar for Best Actress. Joel Grey likewise won the Oscar (he also won the Tony for the same role). Michael York's performance is perfection. The question of his character's homosexualty is breathtaking in it's honesty (especially for 1972), and who wouldn't fall in love with York - he's unbelievably pretty. I love every frame of this brazen and original film musical. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 19, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent | Content
| A great improvement over its stage version. Bob Fosse creates a wonderfully surreal picture of pre-War Berlin. Dropping many of the songs (keeping only the Kit Kat Klub numbers) and dropping some of the more sentimental elements of the stage show in favor of harsher elements from Isherwood's Berlin Stories was a brilliant move. The Kit Kat Klub is one of the greatest environments in movie history. A dank and shabby club inhabitting a once glamorous space, it perfectly symbolizes a rotting Berlin at the dawn of the Nazis. Joel Grey owns the role of the Master of Ceremonies and will never be equalled. The 1998 stage revival veered far off into Rocky Horror territory,it's far too coy and self concious. Fosse, however, stays directly on target with his film. Tomorrow Belongs to Me (performed by a Nazi band and sung by a fresh faced Hitler Youth at an outdoor country-side beer garden on a picture perfect summer day) is one of the most truely frightening movie scenes of all time. Joel Grey's smirk at the end sums it up perfectly. When Liza Minnelli sings the title song at the end, the nightclub changes from its circus like atmosphere and becomes very austere with shafts of red and white spotlights. Its a hint of the chilling final image of the film. By all means see it.
Interestingly, the type of nightclub shown in Cabaret was not generally frequented by locals. Berlin had, at the time, gained a reputation for permissive sex (notorious for homosexuality), drugs, etc. Places like the Kit Kat Klub were very popular with tourists. In The Berlin Stories, Isherwood only mentions such a place in passing when he gives directions to a group of drunken American sailors. |
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