Review of Cabaret (1981) by Ben L — 10 Mar 2017

Basically every song in Cabaret and the way they were spliced in to augment the story was great. I loved that aspect and thought the singing from Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey was superb. It almost reminded me of Chicago and the way the musical numbers were woven throughout that film as a story-telling method (but I think Chicago might have done it a little better.).

I keep going back and forth on whether I liked the rest of Cabaret. The love triangle was interesting and led to some surprises. I don't know if I ever believed Brian was actually attracted to Sally, but later I discover that's kind of the point. Their interactions seem rather cold, though, as if they didn't even like each other all that much. There could be more going on that I didn't see, and it might be obvious if I watched the movie again sometime.

The odd thing about this film is the addition of the B-story. I can't figure out why this separate romance between the Jewish couple was even in the movie. It seemed as if they were simply there as a reminder of where and when these events take place. "See that persecuted Jew? That's because the Nazis are starting to take control." Those scenes weren't bad, just irrelevant.

In fact, throughout the film it felt like they couldn't decide how much they wanted to reference the Nazi threat. At times it almost fades into the background but later it would seriously impact the stars of the movie. I don't know if I wanted it to be more important or less, or maybe it was perfect as it was presented. As you can see I'm still puzzled by Cabaret and have conflicted feelings about it. This is one movie that I'll need to watch again sometime and decide just how good or bad it is.