I was twenty when Cabaret (the film) came out and remember it as a cinematic icon of my generation. I was 21 when I played in a pit orchestra for the musical theater version. I am steeped in Cabaret, in other words.
Funny thing was I have only watched it one other time, until today, over a period of 38 years and I was only moved to rent the video just to see it again. That was in about 1989. So today, in 2011, I have watched the newly purchased DVD of what I thought would be a fascinating romp through Berlin c.1931. It wasn't. It was boring. Was I shocked!? Not really. After I'd watched the first half hour I remembered how coy I thought it was at the time it was released.
The Isherwood novel on which it is based is much racier and decadent and paints a vividly dark portrait of the newly Nazified Berlin. This homogenized, choppy, poorly scripted, poorly acted (except in one case) second rate period piece by Bob Fosse is simply eye candy nothing much more.
To Fosse's credit the choreography is splendid, the best part about this movie. The other outstanding performance is Joel Grey's nuanced and frightening Master of Ceremonies in the cabaret itself. I also enjoyed Marisa Berenson at her most beautiful, anticipating her stunning portrayal a couple of years later in Barry Lyndon. She also gins up the only true humor in the entire movie with her charming, wide-eyed daughter of the Jewish gratin in Berlin.
Some of the songs are good, especially Mein Herr, but most of them are pretty forgettable, though not as dire as those in famous tuneless shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago and Wicked. Cabaret is dark, but so was Oklahoma! Thing is, Oklahoma! is a classic masterpiece of filmed musical theater, Cabaret is a travesty of an intriguing novel turned into a very shallow piece of Broadway glitz.
Liza Minelli is all fingernails, eyelashes and big, moist puppy-eyes. She is utterly tiresome as Sally Bowles, a fatal flaw in any film when the leading actress is a washout. She dances well and has a fine body, she sings okay, the queen of belting, but she can't act, beyond the eyelashes, and her chemistry with ALL the men is zilch.
Michael York is perfect, in theory, as the gay leading man, though he's not allowed to be gay here for too long before he and Minelli suddenly find themselves gazing intensely (for them) into each others' eyes and falling into bed. Ho-hum.
Was I disappointed? Yeah, I was. Isherwood's book I Am a Camera deserves a great adaptation for the big screen. I don't know if there are any American singing actresses who could bring any more depth to the role of Sally Bowles than Liza Minelli did, so it may all be a moot point. A straight dramatic film of the original material could be great in the right hands.
Sorry boys, I know some of us like to dress up like LizaMinelliSallyBowles on Halloween, or any old time, but beyond her parrot-like appearance, she flopped in her great 15 minutes of fame on the silver screen.
Still, I give Cabaret four stars for the choreography (which IS great) and a couple of the songs and Joel Grey's creepy mastery.
Funny thing was I have only watched it one other time, until today, over a period of 38 years and I was only moved to rent the video just to see it again. That was in about 1989. So today, in 2011, I have watched the newly purchased DVD of what I thought would be a fascinating romp through Berlin c.1931. It wasn't. It was boring. Was I shocked!? Not really. After I'd watched the first half hour I remembered how coy I thought it was at the time it was released.
The Isherwood novel on which it is based is much racier and decadent and paints a vividly dark portrait of the newly Nazified Berlin. This homogenized, choppy, poorly scripted, poorly acted (except in one case) second rate period piece by Bob Fosse is simply eye candy nothing much more.
To Fosse's credit the choreography is splendid, the best part about this movie. The other outstanding performance is Joel Grey's nuanced and frightening Master of Ceremonies in the cabaret itself. I also enjoyed Marisa Berenson at her most beautiful, anticipating her stunning portrayal a couple of years later in Barry Lyndon. She also gins up the only true humor in the entire movie with her charming, wide-eyed daughter of the Jewish gratin in Berlin.
Some of the songs are good, especially Mein Herr, but most of them are pretty forgettable, though not as dire as those in famous tuneless shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago and Wicked. Cabaret is dark, but so was Oklahoma! Thing is, Oklahoma! is a classic masterpiece of filmed musical theater, Cabaret is a travesty of an intriguing novel turned into a very shallow piece of Broadway glitz.
Liza Minelli is all fingernails, eyelashes and big, moist puppy-eyes. She is utterly tiresome as Sally Bowles, a fatal flaw in any film when the leading actress is a washout. She dances well and has a fine body, she sings okay, the queen of belting, but she can't act, beyond the eyelashes, and her chemistry with ALL the men is zilch.
Michael York is perfect, in theory, as the gay leading man, though he's not allowed to be gay here for too long before he and Minelli suddenly find themselves gazing intensely (for them) into each others' eyes and falling into bed. Ho-hum.
Was I disappointed? Yeah, I was. Isherwood's book I Am a Camera deserves a great adaptation for the big screen. I don't know if there are any American singing actresses who could bring any more depth to the role of Sally Bowles than Liza Minelli did, so it may all be a moot point. A straight dramatic film of the original material could be great in the right hands.
Sorry boys, I know some of us like to dress up like LizaMinelliSallyBowles on Halloween, or any old time, but beyond her parrot-like appearance, she flopped in her great 15 minutes of fame on the silver screen.
Still, I give Cabaret four stars for the choreography (which IS great) and a couple of the songs and Joel Grey's creepy mastery.