Cabaret

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Film Musical of All Time
Review: To make an invidious claim like that in my summary, above, may seem flip or facile, but in this case it is a very carefully considered opinion. First off, Bob Fosse, in collaboration with Fred Ebb and John Kander, has basically solved the "suspension of disbelief" problem of musicals -- you know, someone's washing dishes and suddenly they break out singing with a chorus and orchestra and maybe even choreography... here, the live music is all in the Kit Cat Club and music in the live scenes is on the radio, or phonograph, or is actually sung by a crowd at a Biergarten. But this structural element beside, what makes this musical so great is its crystallization of a moment in history, a moment of flux and frightening change. And the musical numbers in the Club view these changes in the world outside as if through a cracked mirror: a point vividly brought to visual reality by the frame shots at the beginning and end, where the fractured reflection of the crowd in the club is viewed in the cracked, scalloped glass screen while a drumroll sounds. I can't fathom how some can fault the storyline, or its subtle setting in the middle of proto-Nazi Berlin. It vividly shows how people immersed in hedonism, or the day-to-day drudge, or parochial politics, lived while this cancer grew in their society. Fosse's choreography in the Club is perhaps the pinnacle of his art: grotesque and lascivious while at the same time arresting and even, in a weird way, hauntingly beautiful and powerful. The juxtaposition of the fantasy-escape transmutation of the world outside, and its reality, is pure cinema (such as the bizarre "If You Could See Her Through My Eyes" number juxtaposed with the beauty and solemnity of the Jewish wedding ceremony, for starters). Fosse's art is also, very much like that of Fellini, an art of faces: in perhaps the most chilling musical sequence ever filmed, a young boy in a Biergarten begins singing, what first seems, merely a patriotic song. At the beginning of the scene Fosse focuses on the faces in the crowd, ordinary people of all sorts, young and old, poor and rich. And then as the song builds, and the Nazi ideology becomes audible, how those faces change and react, until most (not all!) of the crowd joins in, little by little, as the boy, now assisted by older brownshirted young men, raises his swastika-banded arm in a "Sieg heil!" salute. Absolutely chilling and at the same time stirring -- one can feel how easy it might have been to have been swept up in a crowd mentality of jingoistic patriotism. Nothing like it had even been filmed in a musical, nor has been since. That Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, et al, did a sterling job, that the production values were of the finest, cannot be disputed! NO other musical, taken as art, taken as CINEMA, can compare.

Rating:
Summary: IT JUST GETS BETTER WITH AGE
Review: I just saw it again in a bar (on their "Movie Night"), and it was like being in a church--no small feat for this particular tavern. They applauded every musical number and at the end as well. Long live Liza's "Cabaret"!

Rating:
Summary: Really Good Songs!
Review: I love the songs and the dancing was excellent.Bob Fosse's lightening was really neat. Unfortunately, The story outline is rather dull. The "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" scene is so freaky! It gave me chills up my spine. How could anyone be so stupid to actually follow the ***hole named Hitler? This is a must- see for any Liza Minneli, Joel Grey or Michael York fan!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely incredible!!!!
Review: It was amazing. Liza and Joel Grey were the best. I watch it over and over and over and over......

Rating:
Summary: A colorful and sexy musical comedy
Review: Liza Minelli and Joel Grey give stunning performances. The movie has catchy, classic and funny songs that will have you singing for a week afterward. The Making of a Legend interviews before are great....almost as much fun as the movie!

Rating:
Summary: LIZA BABY!!! YOU CAN THROUGH ME A CABARET!!!!!
Review: Hey you! Well I bet that you have heard of CABARET with Liza Minelli well guess what its AWESOME, SPECTACULAR, INCREDIBLE, AMAZING, STUNNING!!! So give it a chance hey it was nominated for an amazing 10 (YES, THAT'S TEN) ACADEMY AWARDS and WON 8 (YES, THAT'S EIGHT. God I love Bob Fosse (he is awesome and amazing) and hey guess what this movie has it all!!! God Liza I love ya!! Cabaret is spectacular but the one that I loved the most was Mein Heier (Is that the way it's spelled??). God when I saw this movie I almost cried so come on see it, buy it, rent it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Bob Fosse is a genious
Review: Cabaret is one of my favorite movies. Liza Minelli gives a wonderful perfromance as Sally Bowles, and Joel Grey gives a sensiual performance as the decidant amd dark nightclub Emcee. I saw the Broadway revival with Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson, and it was fantastic. Alan and Natasha were both as good as Joel and Liza. Bob Fosse's direction, the music adaptation of Ralph Burns all come together for a truly wonderful movie.

Rating:
Summary: Great Musical Numbers, Nothing Else
Review: The songs and musical numbers are brilliant, among the very finest ever put on film. Unfortunately, the movie has nothing to say. The filmmakers want me to see some connection between the alleged "decadence" and the rise of the Nazis. Is there one? What do the Nazis have to do with the game of musical beds that makes up the plot? The answer: Not much. But Nazis are a potent visual symbol, and they add SIGNIFICANCE to any artistic endeavor. Just add Nazis, and suddenly your work has MEANING, right? Not quite. There is more going on here than that. When you think about it, the film has a remarkably prissy attitude towards sex. All of the so-called decadence of the film centers around the fact that characters actually (gasp!) sleep with each other. And we are intended to see this decadence as having something to do with Nazism, so are Fosse & Co. saying that sex = Nazism? I sincerely hope not.

Rating:
Summary: Best musical movie made -- *ever*!
Review: If you haven't seen this, you must, because then you will want to own it. This new anniversary edition is wonderful and includes comments from the stars, twenty five years after the movie was originally made. There are no words to describe how brilliant Liza Minnelli is in this film. The week of the Feb. 1972 premiere she was on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Liza won an Oscar for best actress, and the film won a total of 9 Oscars -- and up against The Godfather, no less. See it, embrace it, have it for your own! You'll never regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Bob Fosse is a genius!
Review: Not only is this pure Bob Fosse genius, but Liza Minelli, Joel Grey, Michael York, and the other cast members are all amazing. One of the greatest films out there today