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.

Simply A Masterpiece

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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.

it is a strange fact: I saw it many times. and each new view was a revelation. because it is a great film about yourself more than adaptation of a book. because it is a puzzle about the meaning of life and about the joy as mask and a delicate and convincing eulogy of the friendship. because it gives great characters as images of one. because it is a film about the politic to a life who seems happy because, at the first sigh, it is only adventure. because it is a collection of memorable scenes. bitter. and nice. dark. and wise invitation to live. because it is Liza Minelli. herself. because, after decades, Michael York remains prisoner of his role in "Cabaret". because the recreation of the atmosphere of a Berlin front to its fall is unique. Because Joel Grey. and for the songs, "Cabaret" remains unique experience at each new view.

"Cabaret" was the most influential musical film since "42nd Street". Widled considered one of the greatest films ever made, it follows the young, wild and sensitive American Sally Bowles, who lives in Berlin and work in cabaret "Kit Kat Club". She met Brian Roberts, a young British, shy and reserved who needs work as a English teacher. They immediately feel attracted for each other but some problems come with her obsession with money and his attraction for other men. Meanwhile, a destructive power grows in Berlin...In the early '70s, when the films that explore violence and sex began to take care of movie theaters, musicals seemed to be too outdated to suit young moviegoers expectations with the "New Hollywood". Until Bob Fosse (doubtless, the most underrated director) adapted a Broadway musical that defined the posterior types of it's genre. "Cabaret" is not full of sparkles, it does not have a happy ending and is waaaaaaay sexual for kids used to having the Gene Kelly movies. Still, it is the adult themes (that even some adults are not mature well enough to understand them) which include corruption, sexual ambiguity, false dreams and hedonism that include it as one of the most important of the 70's.

It's pre-war Berlin. The country is in a depression struggling between Communists and Nazis. Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) is a flamboyant bohemian American singer performing at the Kit Kat Klub with MC (Joel Grey). British academic Brian Roberts (Michael York) from Cambridge moves in to finish his doctorate. She falls for him despite him being adverse to women. He teaches English to earn money and one of his students is a rich Jewish heiress Natalia Landauer. She is uncertain about the advances of Fritz Wendel. Sally and Brian are befriended by rich playboy Maximilian von Heune who seems to be interested in both.Liza Minnelli is brilliant. Joel Grey is magnificent. Michael York is put in a tougher spot as a bi-sexual. I buy him more as a homosexual and I like his friendship with Sally more than his romance with her. The biggest deficiency is Helmut Griem as Max. The role needs to be a matinée idol and played by a superstar. It's minor but very important to see both Sally and Brian tripping over themselves for the guy. He needs to be magnetic. The Bob Fosse songs are incredible. The inter-cut scene between the stage and the beating by the Nazi thugs is truly compelling. The pacing does go flat at times and it probably could be trimmed a little. Overall this is a great musical and social drama.