The most perplexing moviegoing experience of my life happened at a “Cabaret” screening five years ago. Also, the most irritating: my fellow viewers cheered and clapped loudly during every dance number and laughed at all the lighter moments. Bob Fosse’s film does supply some humor and plenty of showstopping Liza Minnelli scenes; but it is a dark and moody anti-musical, consistently subversive in its depiction of enigmatic misfits in Nazi-era Germany.
A critical and commercial smash, “Cabaret” turns fifty this year, and my experience at that East Village theater suggests that audiences still don’t know what to make of it. This unforgettable film deserves a fresh look to consider how effectively it balances the garish flair of a studio-era musical with a direct storytelling approach that is both jarring and exhilarating.
‘Cabaret’ Refuses to be Cornered as ‘Just a Musical’
Far from a feel-good musical, “Cabaret” consistently tricks and antagonizes the audience. The film volleys in and out of different genres before we have time to catch up. It’s a naughty melodrama that gives a middle finger to studio musicals. It’s a bleak rom-com that doesn’t judge its characters’ sexual preferences. And it’s an offbeat, indispensable portrayal of loneliness and disappointment. The film’s tone shifts might be disorienting but the finished product is magnificent, a term that also succinctly describes the star of the show.
Liza Minnelli plays Sally Bowles, headliner of the Kit Kat Club’s nightly show. Minnelli was just 25 at the time, legendary already not just for her fine acting (she had already earned a ‘Best Actress’ nomination in 1969 for “The Sterile Cuckoo”) and otherworldly stage performing, but also because she was Judy Garland’s and Vincente Minnelli’s daughter.
On Oscar night in 1973, ‘Cabaret’ was the most decorated film of the night…”
Solid Characters that Defy their Surroundings
As Sally, she’s everything: superstar on stage, hopeless romantic, and even heartbroken daughter, when her “sexy and devastating” father stands her up. Her songs detail the range of her problems, and the depth of her emotions. In “Maybe This Time,” she’s just a girl in love (“Maybe this time … he’ll stay”), while in “Mein Herr,” it’s unclear if she’s the leader or the target (“A tiger is a tiger and not a lamb, mein herr.”). In “Money,” she’s an opportunist (“Money makes the world go ‘round!”), and the closing number “Cabaret” (“Start by admitting … it isn’t that long a stay!”), a broken optimist.
Every character we meet is hard to pin down. Joel Grey’s Master of Ceremonies is a beguiling, limber host, parading around the stage in white face paint like he’s transferred straight out of a “Powell & Pressburger” ballerina musical. He moves the film forward, but his smirking demeanor suggests he’s not out to earn our trust. Michael York’s Brian Roberts enters the film in the first scene as a handsome and harmless academic (a lamb) and leaves in the penultimate scene as a sexually-accomplished stud (a tiger). In between, Sally falls for Brian, they both fall for another person, and no one has a happy ending. The one constant in the film is contradiction; the musical scenes in particular serve to reinforce the divide between the happy-times inside the club and the atrocities taking place outside on the streets of Berlin.
Songs that Define its Soul; the Music of ‘Cabaret’
In most musicals, the songs are the things, serving to both entertain and explain. “Cabaret” follows that lead, but it uses the music to show more so than tell. And Fosse always keeps us guessing. Two songs in particular—”If You Could See Her” and “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”—heighten the contrast between what we hear and what we expect to see.
‘Cabaret’ seems to have fallen out of favor over the decades, especially compared to its peers.”
In the former, the Master of Ceremonies sings a love song to a dancer dressed in a gorilla costume; and the playful lyrics and light tone give way to the final line, a knockout punch: “If you could see her through my eyes, she wouldn’t look Jewish at all!” And in “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” a blonde boy sings triumphantly, rallying a crowd of supporters as the camera moves down to reveal the Nazi patch on his jacket. These stark depictions of love and hate, humor and despair feel so timeless; this film could belong to the era it described (the 1930s), the era it was released (1970s), or, sadly-but-truly, today.
Sweeping the Oscars; an Unsung and Surreptitious Film
On Oscar night, 1973, “Cabaret” was the most decorated film, winning more awards than any of its competition. Minnelli won ‘Best Actress’ for her bravura performance; additionally, “Cabaret” took home 8 total Oscars in a year when “The Godfather” (which won 3) was supposed to dominate. Instead, Fosse won ‘Best Director’ over Francis Ford Coppola and Grey won ‘Best Supporting Actor,’ beating competition that included a record three nominees from “The Godfather” (James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino).
And yet, “Cabaret” seems to have fallen out of favor over the decades, especially compared to its peers. In 2022, publications ranging from Sight & Sound to The New York Times released extensive 50th anniversary tributes to “The Godfather,” while “Cabaret” is a relative footnote. At the Oscars this year, Robert De Niro (who wasn’t even in the first “Godfather”) and Pacino joined Coppola on stage for a ceremonial bow and speech. Luckily, Liza Minnelli did make an appearance at the end to present the ‘Best Picture’ Oscars. And while some Liza is better than none, it still feels like another instance of shortchanging “Cabaret.”
The music [of ‘Cabaret’]serves a purpose, but it’s not just there to entertain us.”
Is ‘Cabaret’ Just Misunderstood?
Plenty of movies pale in comparison to “The Godfather,” but “Cabaret” losing some cachet has less to do with being overshadowed and more about being misunderstood. How else to explain why the crowd laughed and cheered at that screening five years ago? The film is in a class all to itself, and that can be a lonely designation. “Cabaret” isn’t just a musical just because it has singing and dancing; and the more time that passes, the harder it will be to shake that sentiment.
Pigeonholing “Cabaret” as a musical not only diminishes its scope; but that designation could even alienate those fans of musicals who come in expecting some show-tunes and a happy ending. Fosse’s film is a complex, provocative period piece that uses music and dancing to emphasize the madness and conflict happening within and outside of these characters’ worlds. The music serves a purpose, but it’s not just there to entertain us. When Sally sings “Maybe This Time” it captures the hard truth that she will probably always be telling herself that this time will be different. But it won’t be for her, or anyone else in the film.
On the Danger of Pigeonholing ‘Cabaret’
That’s a bummer of a message and yet it fits totally within the context of the film and the period in which it was released. This was a time when a downbeat and sexually transgressive anti-musical could bag 8 Oscars, and “Cabaret” has earned its right for a reappraisal fifty years later. Lucky for everyone, “Cabaret” will be back in theaters nationwide in July. So come for Liza’s singing and stay for Joel Grey singing a love song to a gorilla whose only flaw is her religion. Maybe this time, we can all hold off on judgment—and laughing, clapping and cheering—until the curtain drops.
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