Review of Cabaret (1981) by Kylie P — 08 Feb 2010

From May 8, 2008:

Cabaret is an enjoyable musical film, filled with toe-tapping songs and dances (including the famous title song), social commentary in a historical context, and true-to-life situations in fantastic circumstances. Liza is fabulous, and to prove it, she won an Oscar. In fact, the film won eight, including Best Director (but it lost Best Picture to the Godfather). Liza plays one of the most fully-realized and flawed female characters to ever hit movie screens with great charisma and spirit, and that voice can only be topped by her famous mother (that's Judy Garland for you unknowing types). The other actors are also good, particularly the wonderful Joel Grey, who plays the part of knowing narrator with flair and fun. Also, Cabaret is a Fosse special, and all of the musical numbers are great fun to watch, condensed though they are into the small stage venue of the Kit Kat Club.

The story is resonant, even though it's period. It's also sophisticated for the decade in which it was made, addressing hard-hitting themes including sexual freedom versus responsibility and abortion.

Yet this stage-to-screen musical never decides what it wants to be. Is it the story of Sally and Brian as friends? As tragic lovers? The story of a nation on the brink of war? The story of a club and its patrons trying to remain true to its hedonistic spirit despite what's going on around them? It's all of these things, but the plot, what there is of it, does so much jumping around that there are times when the jumping around grows tedious. The B-story of Fritz and Natalia seems to be the more compelling romance, but it flits in and out of frame so often, it's hard to feel all that compelled.

Also, it's not really a musical in the classical sense: none of the musical numbers actually drive the plot. Instead, they sort of punctuate the social discourse in which the film attempts to engage. A scene may be in progress, the frame suddenly flashes to the club where the Master of Ceremonies sings a song that may or may not have anything to do with what was just seen, and then the film jumps again to something entirely different. Still, Cabaret has its place in American cinema because of what it is and what it did or attempted to do at the time it was made.