Cabaret
Published May 19, 2023
Film info
- Title Cabaret
- Director Bob Fosse
- Year 1972
- Run time 2hrs 4m
- Genres Drama, Music, Romance
- Tagline Life is a cabaret
Winner of eight Academy Awards, Cabaret brings 1931 Berlin to life inside and outside the Kit Kat Klub. There, starry-eyed Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the call to decadent fun, while in the streets a certain political party grows into a brutal force.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:34 | “So, life is disappointing? Forget it. In here, life is beautiful.” |
| 7:25 | That is a heck of an opening number. |
| 8:03 | An international woman of mystery she says to the guy from Austin Powers. |
| 14:06 | Liza Minelli is such a legend but I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything else. |
| 19:13 | Ugh, mud wrestling is the worst. |
| 29:12 | “Sally, you don’t ask questions like that.” “I do.” |
| 37:21 | How do you explain the purpose of silent letters? |
| 50:57 | The phones between tables is really confusing me. |
| 55:59 | I’m living for Sally Bowles failing to give love advice. |
| 1:04:26 | “Max loves buying things!” |
| 1:12:27 | Ye olde swimsuits are amazing. |
| 1:25:04 | Why is there a shoe on top of the wardrobe? |
| 1:34:35 | Sally is much too loud for Cambridge. |
| 1:42:13 | I wasn’t expecting the monkey. |
| 1:52:37 | “Would you be an angel and let me get some sleep.” Get the hell out, in other words. |
Thoughts
To prepare for watching the second series of Schmigadoon, we wanted to watch both Chicago and Cabaret and properly set the mood. Tick and tick, and once again I’m so surprised I’ve not seen this before! I know lots of the songs and, just like with Chicago, it all makes much more sense now they are in context.
This is a much more serious tone than Chicago though, and a much more serious but subtle message. The underlying story of people finding each other and falling in love is great, but it’s those insidious little Nazi moments that really underpin the brooding feeling and that sense of impending doom for everyone. It’s incredibly well done.
It does feel more like this is a movie with songs in it, rather than a musical. If it wasn’t set in a club, there wouldn’t be any tunes, they wouldn’t be bursting into song in the middle of the street. But it’s still fantastic and Liza Minnelli is a revelation. I knew she was incredible but didn’t have the evidence myself - now I do.
Rating: 5 / 5