Review of Cabaret (1981) by Elliott H — 22 Mar 2015

I never really liked Liza Minnelli. There, I said it. But there is something about her wide-eyed, innocent arrogance that makes her click as Sally Bowles, a dubious supporting character from Christopher Isherwood's "Goodbye to Berlin" who somehow became the center of attention in "Cabaret," its musical adaptation.

But even without her unrestrained performance--which feels like a blessing half the time and a curse the other half, but is never unremarkable--this would be a top-notch film musical. The direction (by Bob Fosse) is impeccable, even if he does rip off his own "Sweet Charity" for a few moments.

Every little piece of music and even the tiniest little detail does something to propel the narrative forward in a way that few other directors have ever consistently managed, from the dinginess of the cabaret to the varied levels of enthusiasm expressed by its cavorting dancing girls, from the beautifully edited opening number, "Wilkommen," to the intercutting between a mock boxing match inside the club with a brutal Nazi assault outside.

Fosse's choreography is similarly flawless, captured in a vibrant and imaginative way by master cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth. Michael York and Helmut Griem shine as much as they can with so much of the spotlight hogged by Sally, but the real attraction in the cast is Joel Grey as a sly, devious, tantalizingly mysterious Emcee who invites us into a world that we know will shortly become a very dangerous place.

And through the dazzling music, gorgeous design, cinematography, and innovative editing (dare you not to feel a chill at the quick cutaway to the Emcee towards the end of the Nazi anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"), we know it without having to be told.

A credit to the musical genre and quite possibly one of the best-directed films of all time.