The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Since it release nearly a half century back Cabaret remains the last great American musical (Singing' in the Rain and West Side Story were made previous). As relevant now as it was then, carrying a tune and warning of creeping fascism, it's staying power is not only in its message but the bite of the music and two of the most memorable musical performances in film history with Liza Minelli as Sally Bowles and Joel Grey as the "Emcee."University student Brian Roberts ( Michael York) freshly arrived in Berlin (Weimar Germany 1931) to complete his studies makes the acquaintance of Kit Kat Club performer Sally Bowles who shows him the ropes. Taken back by her brash personality at first he eventually warms to Sally and they become involved, he more serious than her. Together they encounter and share new friends but Brian comes to the realization that Sally is not about to give up a life of "divine decadence." Meanwhile in the streets, the parks, the clubs the Nazi Party and its brand of thuggery is becoming more prevalent.Outside of a pace slowing subplot regarding two older students Robert is tutoring Cabaret is flawless film making in nearly every area with Minelli excelling in three (acting, singing, dancing) requirements and Grey's mischievously haunting master of ceremonies delivering a character for the ages. Director Bob Fosse working in a confined space smaller than a broadway stage for his musical numbers, the color muted by club smoke, delivers one excellently edited solid number after the next without betraying the mood with slick, flashy choreography on a stage the size of an aircraft carrier that lesser musicals depend on. Instead it maintains the funk of people dancing on a volcano in search of distraction from the impending doom they face. Musicals by nature are usually optimistic and upbeat. Sober Cabaret goes against the grain and succeeds beyond expectation as one of the finest musicals in film history.

Typical Bob Fosse musical settled in Berlin where have a decadent night club where the everything begin or ending,Liza Minnelli play Sally a daughter of an American diplomat who works in this club,sally think big she wants to be a star,when she re-rent his room to an English teacher Brian played by Michael York,living together starting a romance,but when Sally was involved by a rich man from the German aristocracy they were in a love triangle that spoiled the weak relationship between Sally and Brian Soon she stay pregnancy but the main problem is to known who is the real father...the interesting point of this movie is that whatever happens in real life is cover on stage at night club...very amusement!!!

Those all time best films list will have The Godfather listed in one of the top 5 positions. The Godfather won 3 Oscars that included the Best Picture category. Cabaret won 8 Oscars including Best Director for Bob Fosse.You might think that back in the day that Academy voters would be elderly and conservative. They gave the top Oscars that year to a violent grandiose gangster thriller and the first X Rated musical.Cabaret adapts the stories of Christopher Isherwood with a heavy dose of the late 1960s counterculturalism and Bob Fosse's unique dancing choreography.It is set in a Hedonistic part of Germany of the 1930s. There is rampant hyperinflation, economic misery but the Kit Kat Club set in the seedy part of the city has an anything goes attitude where you can forget the troubles around you. Trouble is rising, the Nazis are growing in strength and this film shows it. Ordinary people suddenly finding their message palatable and suddenly sing nostalgic songs with the Hitler Youth.Those of the upper class who thought the Nazis will get rid of the communists realised that it was too late. Who would get rid of the Nazis. The film deals with antisemitism and the vicious thugs who beat up those who stand in their way.Micheal York plays Brian the young English middle class man who has come to Berlin to teach and meets the decadent Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), a decadent, free spirited American would be actress whose father is a diplomat. She is somewhat needy for attention, especially if the men are wealthy.She befriends who we discover is gay and later both have an affair with a wealthy German Baron.There is also another side plot of one of Brian's student, a gigolo falling for a rich heiress who is Jewish.The central plank of the film is the cabaret numbers at the Kit Kat Club itself introduced by the Emcee (Joel Grey) who also performs the gaudy, bawdy numbers and sketches including women wrestling in mud. We get big show numbers like 'Money Makes The World Go Round' and 'Bye Bye Mein Herr' that depicts the depravity experienced by some in 1930s Berlin. A shock to Brian who finds himself sharing a urinal with a transvestite one night.However the cabaret adapts to the changing face of Germany while the Emcee makes caustic messages through the song and dance routines such as the man who has fallen in love with an ape. The cabaret is really like the chorus in a Greek play. Minnelli and Grey won Oscars for their roles which included song and dance. For Minnelli this was the star making role for her allowing her to step out of the shadows of her famous parents. Yet York gets overlooked, he brings the right amount of vulnerability to his role. It really his coming of age story and we can see that in the end as he gets on the train as a changed man.

The pursuit of happiness, enshrined as a right in the US Constitution, is one of the greatest motivating factors in all of human history. It can also be one of the biggest distractions. CABARET, from the musical by Kander and Ebb and directed by Bob Fosse, is sort of an examination of this through the historical lens of late Weimar Germany as it succumbed to Nazism. Liza Minnelli is Sally Bowles, a dancer/singer at the Kit Kat Club who has dreams of becoming a famous actress; and Michael York is Brian Jordan, an English philosophy student who is in Germany for cultural enrichment and to make some money. Both of these tragic figures are the conduit for the audience, with Sally being the fantasy side of things and Brian being the reality. As with CHICAGO, although a little less so here, the musical numbers don't just move the story along (all while being organic) but also comment upon it as well. This, for me, is what sets Kander/Ebb musicals apart from the rest. Nazism begins as a mere nuisance but, as the film progresses, becomes more of a presence (and present threat). This is mirrored in the pacing of musical sequences which are initially spaced out a little sparsely but become more frequent as the film goes on. From an interpretive standpoint (and this is just my opinion), this implies (through the nature of what a cabaret is and entails) that our willingness to be entertained and distracted, even if only temporarily, is what allows political extremism/tragedy/etc. to insidiously take hold. No scene in CABARET is more chilling than when the young Nazi starts singing (what I think is) a folk song, and his audience gradually joins in with him. In fact, this entire musical is filled with pathos of varying types, which is why I think it's so effective. The cabaret is a metaphor for the ways we try to mask our pain, to find happiness, but it often comes at the expense of our dignity. From a technical perspective, all of the performances were solid with special marks being given to the leads. However, Joel Grey as the Master of Ceremonies was just as entertaining, perhaps the most so as his role provided dramatic and musical unity to the film. He was also simply hilarious to watch. There was also dynamite editing, choreography, lighting, etc., making it a sort-of ancestor to the music video. If there's one complaint I can levy, it's that the film takes a little too much time to get going, although once it gets into gear it doesn't let up. All things considered, CABARET is a stunning accomplishment that still holds relevance in this day and age of disillusionment with the political establishment. I'm a little hesitant to draw parallels between the America of today and the Germany of then, but it's a little disconcerting to feel like the only thing keeping us from making the same mistakes is that we've never suffered the abject humiliation that Germany suffered at the end of WWI. On a more positive note, CABARET exists as a testament to the power of entertainment, and definitely deserves its status as one of the best musicals ever put to film.