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CABARET (1972) dir. Bob Fosse
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“Money makes the world go round!” - Stage photos of the Spanish version of Cabaret
CABARET || directed & choreographed by Bob Fosse (1972)
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Cabaret (USA, 1972)
Lucy Liu in Chicago (2002) dir. Rob Marshall
The Pineapple Princess
Mad About Musicals: Cabaret (’72) by Anthony Miglieri
Besides being one of only five feature films helmed by famed dancer-choreographer-screenwriter-actor-director Bob Fosse, CABARET (‘72) belongs to another unusual cinematic club: it is a film that derives its title from a location. This might not seem like such an exclusive bunch at first. However, like with such distinguished fellow members as CHINATOWN (‘74) and BRAZIL (‘85), the cabaret of CABARET proves to be much more than just a physical place.
Near the onset of CABARET, it becomes clear why the movie is so named: Sally (Liza Minelli), roommate and eventual romantic interest of English student Brian (Michael York), works as an entertainer at the Kit Kat Club in 1931 Berlin. In the early scenes, the club itself is a constant stage for the film’s events, as we and Brian get to know the theatrical, sensual Sally. Here we are also introduced to the enigmatic Master of Ceremonies (Joel Gray), whose white face makeup stays perpetually plastered even as musicality and charisma pour from his pores.
As the film progresses, though, the cabaret becomes less of a physical presence in the sense that not as many scenes take place there. Before long, the dynamic acts of song and dance at the Kit Kat become sparser and more metaphorically parallel the actions of the plot. For instance, the song “Money, Money” seems to be disembodied from the film’s storyline, but its purpose is integral: it comments on the greed and sexual lust percolating within the love triangle of Brian, Sally and playboy Maximilian von Heune (Helmut Griem). All the while, the Master of Ceremonies floats on the fringes like a ghostly Greek choir, fracking foibles to fuel the cabaret’s fire.
Ultimately, the locational title of CABARET operates in a similar way to that of its aforementioned counterparts. In CHINATOWN, although the motions of the plot only skirt the actual Chinatown of Los Angeles, the seedy past and tragic present of private eye J.J. Giddes (Jack Nicholson) are inexorably intertwined with it. In Terry Gilliam’s BRAZIL, the title refers to a sort of fairy tale land, one of manufactured optimism that masks a grimy, flame-belching reality.
Like in these films, the cabaret in CABARET is a state of mind. It is an embrace of the world’s messiness, of man’s inability to mold it to his whim. Also like in these films, the world of CABARET includes a totalitarian force, as the Nazis rise to power in Europe. However, unlike BRAZIL and CHINATOWN, CABARET does not sink into despair; it instead relishes life’s unpredictability. In the words of the film’s final song, “Life is a cabaret old chum / so come join the cabaret.”
Heiraten-Greta Keller-Cabaret (Married)
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Joel Grey, Cabaret (1972)
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