Life is a Cabaret, My Friends!

I saw Cabaret (1972) when I was younger. And after having just watched it again I can say that I remembered most of it fairly accurately. I remembered the singing and dancing, I remembered some of the relationship dynamics, and I remembered the movie being slightly frenzied.

Cabaret is set in pre-WWII Germany. The Nazi party is on the rise and Jews are beginning to be persecuted. It's here that we find the two main characters, Sally and Brian, played by Liza Minnelli and Michael York. She, an American, is a cabaret performer, and he, a Brit, is an English teacher. We see them through the rise and fall of their relationship and all of the intricacies in between. They are joined by a colorful cast of characters, including the Master of Ceremonies at the cabaret, who is played fantastically by Joel Grey.

I didn't remember everything though. And I'm finding that to be a common occurrence when re-watching movies that I saw before I was an adult. What I didn't remember from before was the ever-increasing Nazi brutality toward Jews and any others who didn't like their politics or methods. I also forgot the fact that after becoming pregnant, Sally eventually decides to have an abortion to save herself and Brian from what she sees as a bleak future. And, I didn't catch before the way in which the movie deals with the sexuality of Michael York's character. It's all of these things, and more, that make the movie so interesting.

When I saw Cabaret on the list, I don't think I really understood why it was there. I thought, yeah, sure, it was good, but one of the top 100? I don't know about that. But, I can say now that I agree with AFI. I think it should be on the list. The acting, themes, costumes, music, choreography, directing, etc. are all great. In fact, the movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and took home 8, including best director, best actress, best supporting actor (Al Pacino was robbed), best cinematography, best editing, best music, best art direction, and best sound. It only lost best picture and best screenplay to The Godfather. Not too shabby.

My overall recommendation: You should definitely pick it up the next chance you get.

AFI Update

We're about a week into February and I'm still moving along on my AFI Top 100 list. I haven't watched as many movies as I had planned, but I'm slowly making progress and I've added in a few that seemed necessary.

Last time I wrote about the list I had already watched The Godfather (1972). After that it took me a bit, but I also watched The Godfather, Part II (1974), which is also on the list. And honestly, could I really have stopped at that point and not watched Part III (1990)? Of course not. I have to say that Part I is my favorite and quite possibly one of my top movies of all time. Part II is phenomenol as well and Part III is good. I know that people get down on Part III, but I think that some of those people haven't even seen it. They're just going along with what they've heard. Does it match the brillance of the first two? No. But, it's part of the story and I think it's necessary to complete the whole picture. And what is the whole picture? A devastating tragedy. Michael Coreleone didn't want the family business, but he took it over because he loved his father. And as a result, he lost everything else. Truly heartbreaking. The whole thing guts me. If you haven't seen them, you should. One, for the story, and two, for the brillance of Al Pacino.

Besides The Godfather Saga, I've also watched Duck Soup (1933) and On the Waterfront (1954). What can I say about Duck Soup? It's a Marx Brothers movie. Zany. Screwball. Ridiculous. But, I actually found it somewhat entertaining and good for a laugh. On the Waterfront is fantastic. Marlon Brando is a superb actor and portrays beautifully a young man wrestling with a major moral decision that has far-reaching consequences. It's interesting to watch Brando in his younger days after seeing him in The Godfather.

One thing that I'm really coming to appreciate is the further exposure to actors of different generations. It's one thing to see a movie or two that someone has done. It's another to watch actors progress through their careers film after film. The AFI list will help me out with that, and I'm sure I'll add in a few films here and there as well.

Next up: After a short break to watch a more recently released film (Let Me In), it'll be on to Cabaret (1972).