Released in 1972, Cabaret won eight Oscars at the 1973 Academy Awards, including Best Actress by its star Liza Minnelli, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Despite its critical acclaim, however, Cabaret never received the public popularity that other classic movies from the time, such as The Godfather, Star Wars, Annie Hall, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Even among film buffs Cabaret is typically an unknown film, and is desperately in need of the recognition it truly deserves.
Opening on a seedy nightclub called the Kit-Kat Club in 1930s Berlin, Cabaret follows singer and performer Sally Bowles as she strives to meet her goal of becoming a famous film star. Brian Roberts soon arrives in Germany to teach English, and he and Sally quickly become involved in an intense relationship. Their relationship becomes increasingly more complicated and difficult as more people enter into their lives, and as the Nazis begin to take hold of their country.
Liza Minnelli and Michael York portray these conflicted lovers with incredible believability, but Minnelli is truly the star of this film. Her singing ability is shown off in songs such as Mein Herr, Maybe This Time, and Cabaret, yet her true skills, her acting skills, shine through in Sally’s many emotional scenes. Although she likes to pretend that she is utterly carefree and lives a perfect life, Sally’s self-doubt and abandonment issues frequently shine through, and are flawlessly portrayed by Minnelli – especially in the emotional scene following her planned meeting with her father. York’s character serves to balance this instability, providing a stable, reasonable personality that contrasts with that of the dramatic Sally, and allows her some of the stability and permanency that she so desperately requires.
The Emcee, played by Joel Grey, does the exact opposite. His character, the very heart and soul of the scandalous Kit-Kat Club, controls everything that happens within his domain, and provokes insanity inside his club to match that being caused by the Nazis in the rest of Germany. Even when Sally attempts to stabilize her life and recede from the spotlight that she so desperately craves, he is always there encouraging her to throw caution to the wind and return to the risky, dangerous life she had grown so used to.
Besides serving as the metaphorical devil on Sally’s shoulder, the Emcee also serves as an omnipresent narrator – knowing the actions all of the characters in the film have performed, and knowing what will occur in the future. One of the only characters to acknowledge the growing power of the Nazis, it often seems that the Emcee can see into the future, and knowing that the audience has seen and lived past the turbulent 1930s, frequently sends knowing looks to the audience that suggest that the characters are ignorant of their futures and the affects of their actions.
Although Cabaret did not win the Oscar for best picture in 1973 or enduring fame with the public, it truly is a movie of substance, and a musical of substance. This movie truly was groundbreaking, and in this reviewer’s opinion, is one that deserves to be seen.
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